Dive Brief:
- State Rep. Patrick Green introduced a bill to the Michigan House last week calling for a 21st Century Infrastructure Council to collect data on state infrastructure to prioritize repairs.
- The Infrastructure Council is supported by a state business leader roundtable and was recommended by a task force created by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to identify transportation, utility and communications infrastructure needs.
- Per Green’s draft bill, the council would be housed within the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget and would be responsible for a pilot program to collect infrastructure data and create a statewide asset management system for directing financing for repairs.
Dive Insight:
As the Trump administration gears up to propose a $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan, state governments are getting a head-start. Case-in-point is Michigan, where an infrastructure task force assembled by Snyder has determined the state will need to increase its annual infrastructure budget by $4 billion to keep up with needed repairs. Under the bill introduced by Green, the 21st Century Infrastructure Council would pinpoint where those dollars are needed most from an infrastructure database.
Unknown is whether or not the commission may collect data with infrastructure sensors. Late last year, researchers at MIT developed accelerometer sensors that can be imbedded in concrete to track movement and vibration, and researchers at the University of Delaware have argued for the installation of imbedded sensors in the 58,495 structurally deficient bridges in the U.S.
Sensors or no, infrastructure investment looms large as heavy civil construction heads into 2017. According to a report by Arup and C40 Cities Climate Leadership group of world mayors, cities will need to funnel $375 billion into green infrastructure investments in order to prevent an irreversible 2-degree Celsius climate change, necessitating a 125% increase in annual project volume through 2020.
