Those still doubting renewable energy capacity compared to fossil fuels quickly blame the "clean energy" movement when power grids fail. But recent grid failures are often due to extreme temperatures and events. For example, the Texas blackouts in 2021, the biggest in the U.S., resulted from …
Infrastructure Asset Management Blog
Fixing the US-Mexico Border Sewage Problem
The EPA announced on 18 August 2022 that the longstanding sewage problem between the U.S. and Mexico border, mainly the untreated wastewater from Tijuana's sewage system flowing and polluting San Diego's beaches and coastal waters, is getting fixed. Mexico's water treatment plant near the U.S. …
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Funding Key to Addressing USA’s Aging Infrastructure
The 1960s and 1970s ushered in the golden age of infrastructure in the United States, where the country expanded its highways and built its water infrastructure. But infrastructure maintenance in many parts of the country has been lacking, and extreme events due to climate change are damaging …
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The Philippines’ Rail Infrastructure System Improvement Key to Solving Congestion
The Philippines is implementing big-ticket railway projects to ease its longstanding traffic congestion problems, especially in the capital city, Metro Manila and surrounding provinces. The country's president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., says that the railway transportation system "offers great …
Philippines Plans to Revive Nuclear Power to Meet Energy Demands
The Philippines plans to restart its nuclear facility after abandoning the project for over three decades. The country's new president, Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos Jr., sought the help of South Korea on 23 May to reopen its nuclear power plant in Bataan (Proctor, 2022). In February 2022, …
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Implementing an Asset Management Plan Can Help Ontario’s Hamilton City Close its Infrastructure Gap
The City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is facing an infrastructure gap of $195.9 million of annual investment needed for ten years to close the difference, a finding from the Auditors General's review of Hamilton's roads. The long-anticipated Auditor's report released in July 2021 shows that …
Improving Arizona’s Water Infrastructure through PPP
In August 2021, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior declared the first-ever Tier 1 shortage for Colorado River operations. The water shortage to begin in 2022 means a substantial cut to Arizona's share of the Colorado River, with the central Arizona agricultural users identified as the most impacted …
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California Water Laws Aim to Future-Proof Supply
California passed two laws in June 2018 that aim to future-proof the state's water supply, setting a consumption limit for the first time. These laws have been in effect since January 2019 and have been legislated to create a resilience plan for future climate change and droughts. California …
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Louisiana’s Outmigration and Its Impact on Infrastructure Management
The majority of Louisiana's parishes or counties' population continues to shrink. Its 2020 consensus reflects a downward population trend, which some experts think may be influenced by the impacts of the pandemic and extreme events such as Hurricane Laura that hit the state in August 2020 (Adelson, …
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Infrastructure Obstacles to Nigeria’s E-learning Success
The Covid-19 pandemic has put 1.2 million children out of school globally. According to UNESCO, kids from vulnerable and marginalized groups are the most impacted by school closures. The UN organization says that compensating for the loss of learning will require the safe return of kids to school …
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Updates on South Carolina’s Water Management Plan
South Carolina's growing population and its experience of a severe drought in 2008-2009 are some of the reasons that the state needs to update its State Water Plans. On 9 March 2018, the American Rivers reported that the state plans to change this by completing its new water plan's second and …
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An Anthropology of Water Infrastructure
An opinion piece by Bethany Waugh To many people, water mains coming from city supplies into homes and workplaces is a normal, overlooked daily function of a city. There are still many places where this is not an everyday reality. It seems unthinkable to anyone who has grown up in a …
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