The Crash Course, Revised Edition

CHAPTER 15Crumbling Before Our Eyes: The Story of Concrete

The first time I was confronted with the idea that perhaps, maybe, the United States was no longer number 1 in the world was in the spring of 2001, while returning from a trip to Europe. I was in the back of a taxi heading home from JFK airport outside of New York City trying to complete an important phone call with a new client.

“What?” I asked, “I couldn't make that out … ” as my phone connection went fuzzy. Just then, the taxi hit an enormous pothole, its third in as many minutes, and I lost the phone connection. Physics tells me these were unrelated events, but they felt connected. Redialing, embarrassed, and apologizing for the lost connection, I was struck by the thought that I had not had a single dropped call while I was in Europe, not even when traveling on a train through the 26‐mile‐long Chunnel connecting the UK to France beneath hundreds of feet of rock and water. Not even in elevators. Nowhere.

While stewing over the lost phone call and the rough ride from the airport, it struck me all at once just how shabby and decrepit much of the U.S. physical infrastructure had become. As I recall, the business deal turned out okay, but instances such as these surrounded some of my first budding doubts about the health of our country.

Every few years, the American Society of Civil Engineers performs a comprehensive assessment of the condition of 12 categories of U.S. infrastructure, including bridges, roadways, drinking ...