U.S. has a $4 trillion infrastructure time bomb
By James Cook, BBC News
On the banks of California’s Feather River, way below the tallest dam in the United States, is a ballet of steel and stone.
The dancers are huge earth-moving machines, their costumes bright yellow. The movement at the Oroville dam is constant and mesmerizing.
The average age of the 90,000 dams in the United States is 56 years. By 2025, seven out of 10 of them will be more than half a century old.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) warns that “many dams are not expected to safely withstand current predictions regarding large floods and earthquakes”.
Overall, says the society, $4.6 trillion will be needed by 2025 to bring U.S. infrastructure to an acceptable standard. Less than half that amount has so far been allocated for the work.