The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released a 2022 report card of infrastructure grades and Tennessee has scored a GPA of C.
Tennessee, like the rest of the country, is seeing its roads, bridges, drinking water systems and more reach the end of their service lives.
The state’s dams and transit scored a D. Aviation, Drinking Water, Energy, Inland Waterways, Public Parks, Rail, Roads, Solid Waste, Stormwater and Wastewater all scored C’s. Tennessee’s bridges scored a B.
The ASCE report notes, “Investment into the state’s parks systems included major renovations of lodges and camping areas at some of the state’s most popular destinations. Local utilities continue to provide safe and reliable drinking water with low interest rate loan programs. However, as our state’s population grows at ever increasing rates, use of transit systems is not increasing accordingly, and the additional stress on our solid waste and wastewater systems continues to mount” The report goes on to say, “Federal support is now on the way thanks to the 2021 Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA), and the American Rescue Plan (ARP), and opportunities abound for funding of infrastructure projects.”