In his inaugural address, U.S. President Obama promised to put people back to work through infrastructure and science, “We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.” I’m sure that was majic to the ears of our fellow U.S.A civil public works associates, construction companies and engineering firms.
Advocacy efforts of the American Public Works Association (APWA), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and many other influential groups has paid off. For example, ASCE’s Principles for Infrastructure Stimulus Investment have been developed to guide decisions for the infrastructure portion of upcoming economic stimulus programs. ASCE is calling for a responsible and effective stimulus, to make sure the right thing is done at the right time.
Here in Ontario, influential Associations have provided feedback and guidance to various ministries and elected officials. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) developed a list of more than 1,000 infrastructure projects that would be ready to go as early as this spring if federal funding is made available. The National Road Table on Sustainable Infrastructure (NRRSI) presented a program - Framework for the Assessment of the State, Performance and Management of Canada’s CPI – in March of this year. The creation of the NRTSI is an initiative of the infrastructure community led by Engineers Canada (Engineers Canada is the business name of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers – CCPE). This is the kind of organized technical leadership that is required here Canada and Ontario to advance the state of knowledge and develop actionable, innovative approaches in the areas of state and performance assessment, and infrastructure management.