Take the Infrastructure Challenge

March 11, 2019 8 Comments

Can it be proven that the majority of failures in buried public infrastructure are caused by either day-one defects or subsequent damage? Can we show that the majority of damages and repair costs are from these two causes which have nothing to do with aging infrastructure?

Unfortunately, the majority of defects have never been categorized using the system of three causes identified in TWI Report #1. The information is simply not being collected and organized this way. Also, very few failures are ever investigated or evaluated by someone who understands both buried infrastructure and material science. Research to support this claim has not been done.

In lieu of research, we can test these claims using the public infrastructure under a given ownership if the management of the infrastructure agrees to share the data. This report asks utility managers to: “take the infrastructure challenge”.

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Identifying Subsequent Damages

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Subsequent damages can be further divided into the following categories: (1) Someone damaged the infrastructure at some time after its initial installation; (2) Someone failed to provide the required industry-standard maintenance; and (3) The damage was caused by a natural event such as an earthquake, tsunami, landslide, storm, or fire.
Although these are subsequent damages from the past, this is not about the past. The fact is, public infrastructure is being damaged today, unless the public agency has an effective program to protect and maintain it.

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Identifying Day-One Defects

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Day-one defects can be further divided into: (1) defective design, (2) defective materials, and (3) defective installation. We will review how these three types of defects often present themselves.
Although these are examples of day-one defects from the past, this is not really about the past. The past is important for the lessons it teaches, but the past is done. The fact is, these are examples of defects which are being installed in public infrastructure today, unless the public agency has an effective program to eliminate them from new construction before they are accepted.

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Aging Wastewater Infrastructure?

This report will consider day-one defects which were built into wastewater collection systems from the very first day of construction, as well as defects and failures which were caused by subsequent damage to the system. We are concerned about the most proximate cause (or causes) of defects and failures in public infrastructure. The causes which are most-responsible for the defects and failures should get the most blame. Blaming these defects and failures on aging infrastructure only encourages the same mistakes which created the defects in the first place.

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Aging Water Infrastructure?

This report will consider day-one defects which were built into water systems from the very first day of construction, as well as defects and failures which were caused by subsequent damage. We are concerned about the most proximate cause (or causes) of defects and failures in public infrastructure. The causes which are most-responsible for defects and failures should get the most blame. Blaming these defects and failures on old age only encourages the same mistakes and the same deliberate actions which created the defects in the first place.

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The Fake News about Exploding Watermains

March 9, 2019

FICTION: Que up the exploding watermains! Infrastructure is failing from old age. Nobody is to blame. It is just too old. Give us more money to fix it and we promise not to waste it this time.

FACT: Our infrastructure is actually failing from day-one defects and subsequent damage. The people who got paid to manage our infrastructure have wasted the ratepayers’ money. Until public officials can correctly attribute infrastructure failures to day-one defects and subsequent damage, there will be no changes in behavior. The same problems will continue forever, and the ratepayers will need to pay higher taxes, more user fees, and costly utility rates to fix the problems.

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The Fake News About Falling Bridges

February 7, 2019

FICTION:
Que up the falling bridges! The infrastructure in the United States is falling down from old age. Nobody is to blame. It is just too old. Please give us more money. Everyone needs to open up their wallets much wider this time.
FACT:
Our infrastructure is actually failing from day-one defects and subsequent damage. Until public works officials correctly attribute the failures to day-one defects and subsequent damage, there will be no changes in behavior. The same problems will continue, and the taxpayers will continue to pay the consequences of it.

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The Cause of All Infrastructure Failures

January 14, 2019

Public infrastructure in the U.S. is wearing out faster than it is being replaced. The average age of U.S. infrastructure and the number of defects and failures increases every year. This is not sustainable if we expect to maintain our infrastructure and quality of life.

However, it is important to avoid making the same mistakes which caused defective public infrastructure in the first place. If we want to fix broken infrastructure, then we should identify what is actually causing the problems. This report will demonstrate that there may be a more productive path going forward.

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