INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT IN US: Readiness and Media Role

This discussion board post analyzes infrastructure management in the United States, focusing on the readiness and quality of infrastructure, including bridges, highways, dams, and reservoirs. It highlights the alarming state of US infrastructure, ranking 15th globally in readiness, and the substantial investments needed for improvements, as indicated by the American Society of Civil Engineering. The report details the condition of bridges, dams, power transmitters, roads, and levees, emphasizing the urgent need for maintenance and upgrades. It also examines the role of news media in emergency management, discussing how media circulates alerts, aids in finding missing persons, and influences public actions. The post concludes by emphasizing the need for immediate action to improve US infrastructure, reflecting on the features of a developed nation and the importance of these improvements for the country's overall development and global standing. This post is a response to a discussion board assignment that required the student to write 400-600 words that respond to questions with their thoughts, ideas, and comments.

Running Head: INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT IN US
0
Infrastructure Management in US
Student Details:

INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT IN US
1
Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Readiness and quality of infrastructure of US.............................................................................................2
Role of News media in dealing with emergencies.......................................................................................3
News Media as an aid to US........................................................................................................................4
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................4
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................4

INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT IN US
2
Introduction
The following report discusses about infrastructure management in US, the main focuses
is given over maintenance and conditions of bridges, highways, dams and reservoirs. It also
gives detail about how much it will cost to maintain the state infrastructure. Later the report
explains the role of news media of United States of America in emergency management.
Readiness and quality of infrastructure of US
United States of America ranks 15th in the world in case of infrastructure readiness, it’s an
alarming situation for all the people in concern and the policy makers to take strict actions
towards betterment of the infrastructure of the nation. As per the American Society of Civil
Engineering (ASCE) the US is required to invest $4.5 trillion by 2025 in order to make the
situation better ( Ignacio , Enrique , García, & Castillo-Rodríguez, 2012).
There are around 614,387 bridges in USA out of which 200,000 bridges are more than 50
years old, as per a report it will cost about $123 billion to fix the bridges. The dams are also a
matter of concern as in US around one million pipes have been taken in use for more than 10
decades; this has led to the loss of about two trillion gallons of water each year (Businessinsider,
2019).
Power transmitters like electric cables and energy transformers of US were built in the
mid-20th century, these electric wires and cables have the life expectancy rate of near about 50
years thus these cables are outdated. As per a report these it will cost about $177 billion to
change the power plant and energy supply cables all over the US (Blanton & Marcus, 2013).

INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT IN US
3
The condition of roads and highways of US is getting worst day by day, about 32% of the
urban and 14% of rural roads are in poor condition, as per the US department of transportation in
order to make these roads better an investment of about $836 billion is urgently required.
Levees are the most important factor which is required to deal with flooding, the factor is
not appropriately maintained and managed the way it should be, this may lead to a major
problem for the communities residing nearby water bodies.
It is the duty of National Weather Service (NWS), US to inform the people residing in
USA about the climate change, weather conditions etc. As per a report the NWS requires
technological advancement, the tools used in grasping information are now getting older.
Role of News media in dealing with emergencies
News media of US plays an eminent role in dealing with the emergencies, media helps in
circulating alerts about the crisis, helps in finding the missing people, provides directions to the
people about how they should deal with the situation. The US media also motivates people to
make donations to the relief programs; it helps in influencing people to make blood donations,
food donations and to volunteer these programs. Sometimes it refuses to provide
counterproductive information to people (Aalberg & Curran, 2012).
The US news media pressurizes the concerned authorities to take strong actions to cure the
condition. The political decisions can be made quickly hence sometimes this power of media
may lead to generate aggression among people. News media also acts as a medium of
communication between people and the concerned authorities (Abuzayan, Whyte, & Bell, 2014).

INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT IN US
4
News Media as an aid to US
The news media of United States of America helps in providing aid to the suffering people. The
news media usually plays a positive role while dealing with the emergency and crisis situation. It
can be observed that when US faced terror attack the news media helped people of not only USA
but people all around the world but the condition of US because of this USA got support an d aid
from all around the world. The voice of news media trembled the security authorities and made
them realize that they should take strict actions against terrorism.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that sudden actions are required to make the infrastructure of USA better.
Being a hegemonic power USA should focus on its overall development; these are some of the
primary features a developed country should comprise.
Bibliography
Ignacio , E. B., Enrique , M., García, A. L., & Castillo-Rodríguez, J. T. (2012). Risk Analysis,
Dam Safety, Dam Security and Critical Infrastructure Management. london: CRC Press.
Aalberg, T., & Curran, J. (2012). How media inform democracy: A comparative approach .
london: Routledge.
Abuzayan, K. M., Whyte, A., & Bell, J. (2014). Asset-management framework (s) for
infrastructure facilities in adverse (post-conflict/disaster-zone/high-alert) conditions.
Procedia Economics and finance, 304-311.
Blanton, P., & Marcus, A. W. (2013). Transportation infrastructure, river confinement, and
impacts on floodplain and channel habitat, Yakima and Chehalis rivers. Geomorphology,
55-65.
Businessinsider. (2019, july 11). Engineers give US infrastructure a 'D+' - here's a look at how
bad things have gotten. Retrieved from Business insider:
https://www.businessinsider.in/Engineers-give-US-infrastructure-a-D-heres-a-look-at-
how-bad-things-have-gotten/Transit-D-/slideshow/57596993.cms

INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT IN US
5