The United States’ system of roads, highways, and bridges are critical
in making it possible for the country to function every day. The road networks include more than 4 million miles of
public roadways, carrying almost 3 trillion vehicle miles traveled in 2011
alone (American Society of Civil Engineers Report Card). These roadways allow
for vital goods to be transported day in and day out. Basically, the nation
runs smoothly because we have a way to get around and a way to transport
imports, exports and everything in between.
Last week, the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE) released the 2017 Infrastructure Report Card: an assessment of
the status of the United States’ infrastructure. Sadly, the United States
received a “D+” grade regarding the nation’s overall infrastructure. Created
every 4 years, the report card is organized into infrastructure specific
categories, each assigned a letter “grade” and based on the performance and necessary
investments for improvement of existing public works. Specifically, America’s
roads got a “D” grade because “One out of every five miles of highway pavement
is in poor condition and our roads have a significant and increasing backlog of
rehabilitation needs” (ASCE Report Card). This valuable report goes to show
that America’s infrastructure needs to change.
The report goes on to suggest that the nation’s
state DOT’s and municipalities do invest to repair their roadways each year but
fall short when it comes to making sure the investments are focused on the
long-term. States and communities tend to focus on the short-term cost savings,
instead of realizing that the long-term investments lead to long-term cost savings.
Most DOT’s often don’t have the money to make these necessary repairs, however,
leaving roads to degrade much quicker, requiring costly construction to replace
or repair them, time after time. Often overlooked or pushed to the side, road
in need of repair pose safety risks to motorists. The ASCE also mentions that statistics
indicate that these roadway conditions are a significant factor in
approximately one-third of all U.S. traffic fatalities.
The solution, of course, is to improve the
way the roads are managed as a whole. By focusing on the long-term outcome when
considering how the roads are initially constructed and replaced, the country’s
infrastructure problem can be slowly resolved. Of course, an excellent solution to this
problem is FORTA-FI®, a high tensile strength synthetic fiber blend
formulated to reinforce asphalt mixes in both new construction or rehab
projects. FORTA-FI® extends the life of asphalt projects which reduces
the amount of maintenance costs.
FORTAfied® asphalt
provides the benefits of long-term cost savings through extending the life of
asphalt, which in this case would benefit the nation’s infrastructure
immensely. FORTA-FI® reinforced asphalt for our roads, highways and
bridges is the type of infrastructure improvement America needs.
