Real Stimulus.

You want to put people to work right now?

Fact: As of 2003, 27.1% of the nation's 590,750 bridges were deemed structionally deficient of functionally obsolete. Estimated cost to repair: $9.4 billion per year for 20 years.

Fact: As of 2003, 33% of the nation's dams, or around 3,500 of them are deemed "unsafe", with the number of dams on the "unsafe" list growing faster than the rate we are repairing/retrofitting them. Estimated cost to repair: $10.1 billion over the next 12 years to address all critical non-federal dams. Critical being deemed as posing a direct threat to human life in case of failure.

Fact: As of 2005, the nation is dealing with an $11 billion shortfall annually to replace aging facilities or bring them into compliance with Federal regulations.

Fact: Maintenance expenditures for the U.S. power grid has fallen at a rate of 1% per year since 1992. Existing transmission systems were not designed to handle the current level of demand. Estimated cost: We don't even know.

Fact: We still have 1,237 contaminated sites on the National Priorities "Superfund" list for hazardous waste. There is a potential listing of 10,154 sites that were identified as of 2003. Cleanup and redevelopment of these sites could generate nearly one-half million new jobs and generate $1.9 billion for the national economy.

Fact: We have 12,000 miles of navigable inland waterways managed primarily by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nearly 50% of the 257 locks are functionally obsolete. The current estimate is that this number will increase to 80% by 2020. The cost to repair or replace the present system of locks: $125 billion.

Fact: Our national public parks and recreation system is slowly falling apart, with most of the initial construction or roads, bridges and utilities completed over 50 years ago. It is estimated that the maintenance backlog needs $6.1 billion in investment. This does NOT include money needed for state park and public recreation sites.

Fact: Rail freight tonnage is expected to increase by 50% by 2020. As of 2005 limited rail capacity has already created either chokepoints or downright delays. Additionally many municipalities are leveraging existing railbeds for expansion of commuter rail in an attempt to get people out of their cars. The freight railroad industry needs to spend $180 billion over the next 20 years to maintain existing infrastructure and to accomodate expanding freight tonnage. Expansion to develop intercity corrider passenger rail service is estimated to cost nearly $60 billion for the next 20 years. All told, estimated annual cost would be $12-$13 billion.

Fact: The U.S. Highway and road system is deteriorating at an alarming rate. Poor roads are believed to have cost U.S. motorists nearly $54 billion a year in repairs and additional operating costs, or $275 per motorist. As of 2005, current spending levels of $59.4 billion annually is well below the $94 billion estimated to be needed annually to improve the transportation structure.

Fact: U.S. school system has not been assessed since 1999, but it was estimated THEN that $127 billion to bring all facilities to good condition. This is believed to be a LOW estimate.

Fact: The U.S. currently recycles only about 25% of the 396 million TONS of solid wate of all types produced annually.

Fact: The U.S. wastewater system is discharging billions of gallons of untreated sewage into U.S. surface waters each year. The EPA estimates that the nation must invent nearly $400 billion over the next 20 years or $20 billion annually to replace existing system and also to expand the system to handle anticipated new demand. However, in 2005 the Federal Congress cut funding.

This information was liberally copied from the following website: http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/page.cfm?id=103. This website is operted by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The ASCE estimates that to bring the U.S. infrastructure into compliance with Federal regulations as well as to efficiently handle expected increased demand over the next quarter century, the total cost would be nearly $1.6 trillion dollars.

My point: These all sound like projects that would 1) create jobs and more importantly create jobs in heavy industries that typically pay much better than service/agriculture; 2) dramatically improve the real infrastructure in our country. Much more so than the 890 billion Porkulus package just passed by the U.S. Congress.