The problem
Infrastructure maintenance might win a contest as the world’s most boring innovation/business problem. And that is why it is a promising opportunity. Except for a relatively few dedicated civil engineers, the majority of us barely think about our bridges, roadways, tunnels, sewers or waterworks unless they fail. They are usually out-of-mind or out-of-sight. Even civil engineers have a tendency to prefer the challenge of future constructions, compared to the maintenance of old structures that are slowly turning into dust. Moreover, new infrastructure is driven by near-term needs, while its future maintenance is left to the future, the vague future where the need to take action may be someone else’s problem. Eventually, however, the future arrives. In much of the world, the maintenance of existing infrastructure is becoming critically overdue, the bill for deferred maintenance becoming unaffordable. We are forced to “triage” project doing only those at risk of imminent failure. Constantly fixing crisis situations is more expensive in the long term than preventive maintenance would have been. Failure to consider the long term is of course a major source of the problem in the first place. As a result, there is an urgent need for more efficient/less expensive ways to maintain our critical infrastructure.
Importance and scale
Infrastructure construction accounted for about $342 billion of the total US construction market in 2018. This includes activities such as new work, additions, maintenance and repairs. The road and highway construction industry in the US is one piece of overall infrastructure and accounts for over $113 billion. Over 43% of this goes towards reconstruction, replacement and alterations to existing infrastructure. Water and sewer line infrastructure make up another significant industry at $52.3 billion in the US. This figure includes revenue from expansions, repair and maintenance of existing water and sewer line infrastructure. A challenge for infrastructure stakeholders is the availability of public funds that support the overwhelming majority of their work. In the US, federal- and state-level funding for infrastructure projects has declined slightly over the past 5 years. Some federal acts have helped to keep US infrastructure funding from declining further. The amount of public spending on highway infrastructure has declined from over 200 million USD in 2002 down to around 150 million USD in 2014.
Additional project details
More information about this project will be shared during the kickoff meeting. Students will receive all the details they need at that time.