Analyzing America's Infrastructure: A Comparative Study

America’s Infrastructure (1902 words)

When I first looked at the stimulus material packet, the one thing that stood out to me was the American side of the border in Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States. As I was looking at the American side, I remembered an episode of Last Week Tonight, a satirical news show from HBO. In that episode, John Oliver discussed the dilapidated state of infrastructure in America. Although, as I was looking at the American side of the border, I saw gleaming factories and roads with industrial perfection, on the Mexican side, the only visible infrastructure was dirt roads. This caused me to wonder, how America's infrastructure compares with that of other countries,

According to the World Economic Forum, a group of the top 1,000 businesses in the world and a leading source of world economic data, as well as economic theory, the United States ranks twelfth out of one hundred forty-four nations in infrastructure with a score of 5.8 out of 7 (Global Competitiveness). This shows that while the United States may not have a perfect infrastructure system, it still does very well when compared with other countries. In the first sub category of transport infrastructure the United States performs even better, placing ninth in the world with a score of 5.8 out of 7. This success mostly stems from our airport infrastructure. The United States ranks ninth in Quality of air transport infrastructure, with a score of 6.1 out of 7. In the category of available airline seat kilometers or how many seats per distance traveled by aircraft, America rank first in the world. The United States performs decently in the quality of roads, earning Sixteenth in the world, fifteenth in railroad infrastructure, and twelfth in port infrastructure. However, in the second category of electricity and telephony infrastructure the United States ranks twenty sixth with a score, again, of 5.8 (Global Competitiveness). This ranking largely stems from the United States’s ranking one hundred

Rutgers University has developed a robot called ‘RABIT’ which is designed to completely autonomously scan bridge decks and report data back to the inspectors. It specializes in detecting the wear on concrete, and internal rebar wear. In addition, Georgia Tech Research Institute has partnered with the Georgia Department of Transportation to produce the Roadbot. The Roadbot is towed behind a truck and both detects damage to roads, and repairs it. It only requires a single operator to drive the truck and ensure that everything is functioning properly. Between these two inventions, small groups of inspectors could be more efficient and cover more structures and be more efficient. This would also allow inspection agencies to operate adequately under budget cuts and funding redistribution. Furthermore, in the case of the Roadbot, repairs could be completed immediately, and without bringing in a full construction crew. Popular Science, a world renowned magazine that focuses on reporting technological and scientific advances, released a special issue on smart roads. These roads are designed to be much safer than standard roads and cost less money. For example, a train station in Japan has begun using piezoelectric floors that generate electricity from the vibrations of passing pedestrians. These could be scaled up to work with cars on roads to produce electricity for nearby towns or be used to power street lighting. In 2009, an