National Civil Engineering Society grades Texas 'C' on infrastructure
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Ask the average Houstonian how they feel about our state's infrastructure, and you'll probably get the same answer.
It's not positive, and they're not exactly wrong.
In a new report, the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers has given the infrastructure in the state of Texas a grade of "C," meaning mediocre.
The state received the same score on its last report card from the organization four years ago.
"Water lines and all our infrastructure was built decades ago, so they're not up to standard anymore," Infrastructure Report Card Co-Chair Griselda Gonzales said.
The state was graded on 16 categories. Here are the results:
- Levees: D-
- Wastewater: D-
- Dams: D+
- Drinking water: D+
- Broadband: D+
- Transit: D+
- Public parks: C-
- Roads: C-
- Stormwater: C-
- Rail: C
- Energy: C
- Hazardous Waste: C+
- Ports: C+
- Solid Waste: C+
- Bridges: B-
- Aviation: B
Texas, the so-called energy capital of the world, received a C for its energy infrastructure. The state's score dropped after the 2021 freeze and grid collapse.
Hurricanes and major flooding events over the years have hurt water systems.
The state is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the coming years.
"Those areas that were not considered high hazard are now considered a high hazard because now you have a population of a certain amount, and if those dams were to breach, you'd have significant loss of life and loss of property," Gonzales explained.
"Demand on the infrastructure is going to go on increasing, so not only a demand from the population, but the changing climate means more loads on the infrastructure, more extreme loading that they have to be resilient to," Dr. Vedhus Hoskere, an Asst. Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Houston, said.
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