Let’s play the glass-half-full game, and see all the positives in what the American Society of Civil Engineers’ “2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure” had to say about Virginia!
First off, we didn’t fail overall. We got a D+!
Fewer than 10 percent of our bridges (9.1%) are considered “structurally deficient” — only about 1,250 are in danger of collapse! (And only 17.6% are “functionally obsolete".)
Bravo for history! Our bridges are among the oldest in the nation — more than half are at the end of their designed life!
It will only cost us about $220 million to have the the Virginia’s 3,037 state-regulated dams meet minimum safety requirements. (And heck, only about 50,000 people live in dam break inundation zones anyway. Some places have dealt with the problem by installing warning sirens. What more could you ask?)
Our wastewater systems are in great shape. It won’t be till 2020 before about half will need replacement or major renovation — that’s years away.
We’ve realized that helping educate people is a poor investment, so we’re cutting money for schools. Almost half of the state’s facilities are more than 40 years old, but no worries — we’re using thousands of trailer classrooms instead!
There’s so much more — click here to read the detailed state report from the ASCE, and let’s celebrate our successes!
