Find out what grades America’s bridges, roads, dams and more fared on the American Society of Civil Engineers Report Card. The report is released every four years. Read More...

Transportation for America is:

bringing together the most diverse coalition anywhere, eager to reform how we spend transportation dollars at the federal, state and local level to create a safer, cleaner and smarter transportation system that works for everyone. Read More...

Sometimes it doesn’t take a long, wordy piece to present good news. Ask Paul Revere. Here’s a missive that came over the transom from the Georgia Department of Transportation:

“The Georgia Department of Transportation has announced it plans to begin working on 17 infrastructure improvement projects throughout the state. Department of Transportation officials say a new $8.7 million bridge will be built to replace an outdated and narrow structure spanning Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River. The bridge is expected to have two lanes for cars, bike lanes, sidewalks and pedestrian tunnels to allow rowers to safely carry boats from one side of the road to the other. The new bridge is expected to open at the end of 2015. The department also plans to resurface parts of State Route 23 in Emanuel County, State Route 20 in Gwinnett County and State Route 121 in Candler County. Officials plan to distribute information on lane closures and construction details.”

So, 17 new bridges are on the drawing board for Georgia. That’s good news for local economies and all those workers who will be hired for the project. I have nothing much to add to this short of getting some pictures of the bridges as they are being built. Sounds like a road trip to me.

— Meyer

From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox:

What’s a few trillion dollars among friends? That could be the topic of conversation and the next several world summit type of meetings. According to the number crunchers, we, and by we I mean the planet, is going to need to spend around 57 trillion on infrastructure by 2030 or yes, all the bridges and roads will come tumbling down. If America is to take the lead, we’re off to a weak start. According to this blog from the Washington Post, President Obama just asked for $50 billion to fix a bunch of infrastructure but that’s a) not nearly enough and b) doesn’t address the need for new project expansions. We’ve got to do better.

MCKINSEY: WORLD NEEDS $57 TRILLION IN INFRASTRUCTURE BY 2030. YES, TRILLION WITH A ‘T’

Posted by Dylan Matthews

High up on the list of stuff that President Obama wants and Congress won’t provide is more funding for infrastructure programs. His American Jobs Act proposal from 2011 includes $50 billion in spending to improve railroads, airports and roads, and another $10 billion to inaugurate an infrastructure bank to fund other programs going forward. During the fiscal cliff negotiations, he reportedly wanted $50 billion to $75 billion in infrastructure spending in exchange for cuts. Read More...

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From the MRW Water Cooler

Thanks Charlie for the link. Interesting read. Now how in the world is Mike going to accomplish this goal? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Maria

Hi Maria,

My philosophy here is a lot like my attitude on the show. I believe there is real equity in simply trying. “Succeeding,” or “accomplishing,” or “completing,” something is my hope, but not my goal. My intent is to simply be the guy who talks about the problem, through my own experiences and observations. In and of itself, that will not fix anything. But without a conversation, there is no chance of anything changing.

I can’t say it enough -the idea of redefining a “good job” and challenging the countries relationship with work is preposterously grand. And yet, check out the headlines. Since this site launched, plumbers are suddenly being referenced all over the place. MBA’s and venture capitalists are not looking so prescient. Skilled people who can actually fix real things are being profiled more. Coincidence? Of course. But I think there are forces in motion – like the stock market for instance – that are driving people to look at that which is real. And the trades, though temporarily out of favor, are real.

Mike