Two things can be true at the same time: we can have a shortage of construction workers, and we can need a significant amount of new infrastructure to be built. Often, the two are incongruent, so what can be done if people did, perhaps, use that money to help fund a new effort?
We have all read the construction labor numbers. The construction industry will need to attract an estimated 501,000 additional workers on top of the normal pace of hiring in 2024 to meet the demand for labor. At the same time, our nation’s infrastructure is crumbling and needs to be rebuilt.
The RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and AACE (American Assn. of Cost Engineering) USA Construction Monitor for Q2 2024 found infrastructure continues to be the leading sector for both current and expected workloads. The result is slightly down on the previous quarter, but, like the overall activity result, still indicates positivity. Survey insights suggest workloads are firmest in the digital space followed by energy.
Certainly, there are many different types of our nation’s infrastructure that will require our attention in the coming years. Let’s take a look at just two today.
The Need for Improved Water
Some construction companies recognize there is big demand for new stormwater management and wastewater treatment services, as well as PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) remediation, which are a group of chemicals that can be harmful to our health.
For those who may not know already, PFAS are chemicals that resist grease, oil, water, and heat. The U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Admin.) suggests these chemicals were first used in the 1940s and are now in hundreds of products including fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints, and foams, just to name a few. We all have likely come in contact with PFAS at some point in our life—but that doesn’t necessarily mean we should be ingesting it into our bodies.
When it comes to our water sources, the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) says PFAS are found in water, air, fish, and soil, and significant exposure may be linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, which makes it difficult to study and assess the impact of each. This is a topic I have address here on my blog with Erik Bernal, president and CEO, Elite Water Systems.
In May, the U.S. EPA sent a report to Congress outlining clean water infrastructure investments—including wastewater and stormwater system upgrades—that are needed over the next 20 years. It shows at least $630 billion will be needed over the next 20 years to protect our nation’s waterbodies. Construction companies will be tasked with building new infrastructure.
The Need for Improved Bridges
There are more than 617,000 bridges across the United States. Roughly, 42% of all bridges are at least 50 years old, and 46,154, or 7.5% of the nation’s bridges, are considered structurally deficient, meaning they are in “poor” condition. This is all according to the last Infrastructure Report Card from the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), which will be releasing an update next year.
The report card suggested we need to increase spending on bridge rehabilitation from $14.4 billion annually to $22.7 billion annually, or by 58%, if we are to improve the condition. The organization called on the nation to create a systematic program for bridge preservation like that embraced by many states, whereby existing deterioration is prioritized, and the focus is on preventive maintenance.
To be clear, some progress has been made since the last report card. Just this month, the U.S. Dept. of Transportation announced more than $26.5 million in planning grants through the FHWA’s (Federal Highway Admin.) competitive Bridge Investment Program.
These planning grants will be used to create a pipeline of future bridge construction projects to improve safety, support economic competitiveness, and make our highway infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change.
How Will We Build It All?
While we have been making some progress, there is still much work to be done. We need to address the people component of the conversation if we are going to find a way to build it all quickly. We need to align people, process, and technology if we want to build more efficiently and in a manner that is safe for all parties involved.
The solution isn’t going to be singular. It must be myriad. We must address this from all sides if we want to make progress rebuilding our infrastructure. And we must do it all together in tandem in order to see the best results.
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