Strategic Asset Management Needed for Smart Infrastructure Plan in the USA

Decades of deferred maintenance have left many US infrastructures in risky conditions.

As lawmakers continue to debate major infrastructure packages, particularly what needs to be prioritized and how to allocate budget, a report from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School calls for investment to go beyond simple repairs and replacement of critical infrastructure but for “a strategic, smart infrastructure plan that integrates digital technology, sensors, and data not only addresses these issues but can mitigate risks and even improve the conditions and structures that shape our daily lives.”

According to the authors, Stephen Goldsmith, Betsy Gardner, and Jill Jamieson, the current repairs and replacements are disorganized and patchwork, which results in unsafe, costly, and inequitable roads, bridges, dams, and other infrastructure projects. 

A smart infrastructure plan will address these issues and mitigate risks from natural disasters and increasing climate change impacts.

Intelligent infrastructure combines digital technology and smart sensors attached or built into structures like bridges, railways, buildings, pavements, sewers, etc.

The report highlights several benefits of the use of sensors in infrastructures:

• it can target where problems exist, allowing governments to allocate funding where it’s needed most;
• proving alert issues on structures ahead of time can prevent disastrous and costly outcomes;
• sensors in sewers can detect Covid-19 and other pathogens;
• lower accidents in accident-prone areas by automatically lowering speed limits;
• can be used to improve materials to reduce carbon footprint and sensors embedded in rubbing trucks can act as roving sensor platforms that could detect potholes and other road and pavement problems.

According to the report, another vital application of smart infrastructure is to address inequities in the US.

“Research shows that people of color in the US are exposed to more pollutants, toxic chemicals, and physical danger through excess car emissions, aging water pipes, and poor road conditions. The implementation and funding of these intelligent infrastructure projects must consider where—and to whom—harm has traditionally been done and how building back better can measurably improve the quality of life in marginalized and vulnerable communities.”

The authors say that implementing an extensive smart infrastructure comes with many challenges, such as upfront costs and security concerns.  But all levels of government from the federal, state, and municipality play a role in ensuring and achieving a safer society.  

The report also encourages cities and towns to “invest in comprehensive asset management systems and train local workers to utilize the intelligent infrastructure data best.”