In civil engineering education we are taught to use Cost Benefit Analyses (CBA) to help us spend the public's money wisely by making sure that a project's public benefit is greater than the project cost. However, there may be unintended consequences when applying CBA to public projects. The end result can be that we locate new roadways in lower income communities in which the cost of land acquisition is less and build flood control projects to benefit higher value properties/communities which results in greater benefits. Federal grant programs have recently evolved to include other factors to consider. Have you ever seen project a CBA that results in further devasting a disadvantaged/overburden community? Are you aware of updated CBA analysis techniques being taught in civil engineering programs that addresses this concern? What should ASCE do about this issue?
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Karen Kabbes P.E., ENV SP, BC.WRE, F.ASCE
President
Kabbes Engineering, Inc. (KEI)
Barrington IL
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