Pit & Quarry, May 2013
INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT Roads score poorly in ASCEs infrastructure report card The American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE gave U S bridges a C and roads around the country a D in its Report Card for Americas Infrastructure ASCE releases the report once every four years using an A to F school report card format The society gave the countrys overall infrastructure a D According to ASCE one in nine bridges is rated as structurally deficient The Federal Highway Administration estimates that to eliminate the nations bridge backlog by 2028 the U S would need to invest 205 billion annually Only 128 billion is being spent currently The challenge for federal state and local governments ASCE says is to increase bridge investments by 8 billion annually to address the identified 76 billion in needs for deficient bridges across the United States But with the overall number of structurally deficient bridges continuing to trend downward ASCEs grade on bridges is a C Regarding roads targeted efforts to improve conditions and significant reductions in highway fatalities resulted in a slight improvement in the grade to a D this year Still ASCE says 42 percent of Americas major urban highways remain congested costing the economy an estimated 101 billion in wasted time and fuel annually While the conditions have improved in the near term and federal state and local capital investments increased to 91 billion annually ASCE says that level of investment is insufficient and still projected to result in a decline in conditions and performance in the long term Minerals Education Coalition launches new website The Minerals Education Coalition MEC the K 12 education and public awareness and outreach program of the Society for Mining Metallurgy and Exploration has launched a new website at www mineralseducation coalition org MEC envisions the website helping to create an enlightened and supportive public that appreciates the importance of mining and minerals to their lives According to MEC the website structure is audience based so resources can be easily found For example a teacher can click on K 12 Education to find lessons and activities There is also an online store where visitors can purchase materials such as posters CDs and DVDs www pitandquarry com May 2013 PIT QUARRY 9
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