Hi all! I'm loving the questions coming in. I'll be responding individually to you all about them. As a reminder, you have until
Feb. 10 to submit. As you think of your questions, please remember to keep the following in line:
1.
ASCE's 2017 Infrastructure Report Card rated the overall condition of the nation's infrastructure a cumulative grade of "D+," with an investment gap of $2 trillion.
2. We built out our system decades ago and haven't kept up with the necessary maintenance and upgrades.
3. The average American family loses $3,400 a year to outdated, unreliable infrastructure systems. That is $9 a day
4. Across the country, we're spending 42 hours a year – that's nearly 2 days – stuck in traffic. 45 percent of nation's highways are in poor condition, costing each motorist $616 per year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs.
5. A water main break occurs every two minutes somewhere in the country
6. Investing in infrastructure means spending more time with our families and less time in the car
7. Investing in infrastructure means a better quality of life - these are critical investments to quality of life, safety that will become more challenging the longer we wait.
8. Rather than focusing on the building aspect of infrastructure, in the rebuilding process, we also need to think about modernizing the infrastructure we have to make it fit for the 21
st century. Our future depends on resilient infrastructure. As civil engineers, we are thinking about building infrastructure that will last for 50 to 100 years, or more and we are ensuring our infrastructure is more resilient and sustainable as we plan for the future with new technologies, approaches, and materials.
Feel free to reference our priorities for Congress here:
https://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Issues_and_Advocacy/Advocacy/Content_Pieces/ASCE_116_Congress_infographic_web.pdfFinally - Make it personal, make it relevant to non-civil engineers, link issues you bring up to the candidates' messaging (jobs, health, economy, etc. You can't have good education without safe school buildings, right?). Also, be specific!
Moderators will ask questions in addition to some submitted. I'll be in touch with you if your question is chosen, and then you will submit that question on a separate form. Thank you! Feel free to email me with any questions.
alopez@...------------------------------
Alexa Lopez Aff.M.ASCE
Senior Manager of Public Affairs and Media Relations
American Society of Civil Engineers
Washington DC
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-30-2020 14:46
From: Tirza Austin
Subject: What Questions Would You Ask Presidential Candidates about America's Infrastructure?
The first EVER Presidential Candidates Forum on America's Infrastructure is coming - 2/16/2020! Clean water, reliable transportation, climate resilience - how to address these issues and more will be outlined by America's leaders this President's Day Weekend at UNLV!
ASCE has been asked to submit questions for the forum and your question could be chosen. We want your input. Questions can be focused on infrastructure broadly, can be geared towards a candidate, can be about an infrastructure issue, or simply "will you commit to signing an infrastructure bill in your first year." What questions would you ask the candidates? Please share on this thread for ASCE to select and submit to the moderators. ASCE will let you know if your question has been chosen.
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Tirza Austin
Manager, Online Community
American Society of Civil Engineers
1801 Alexander Bell Drive
Reston, VA 20191
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