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2017 Report Card for Texas' Infrastructure

The ASCE Texas Section officially released the 2017 Report Card for Texas’s Infrastructure at CECON in September. Texas issues a grade across all categories every other release alternating with a partial list; this year’s release only covers half of the categories. The seven categories that were reviewed this cycle are: Aviation, Bridges, Dams, Drinking Water, Flood Control, Highways and Roads, and Wastewater.

Texas’s overall grade is a C-, which is down from a C in 2012, and slightly better than the nation’s overall grade of D+. The only category to see a decrease from the previous report card is Wastewater, all other categories either improved or stayed the same.

As civil engineers in the state of Texas, we have a responsibility to safeguard the life, health, property, and welfare of the public by ensuring that our infrastructure functions as designed. Part of this responsibility includes providing the public and our elected leaders with critical information about the current state of our infrastructure. If you would like to get involved, ASCE has made it easy to get started in civil engineering advocacy through the Key Contact Program. The program will provide you with weekly updates on infrastructure issues at the state and national levels as well as with actions to take to help support infrastructure. Find yourself in the position to talk to an elected official or candidate about infrastructure? ASCE also provides an app you can download to your phone to assist you in these crucial conversations. The Save America’s Infrastructure app is available for download from Google Play and the App Store.