Dive Brief:

• The CEO of one of the largest U.S. construction companies has said the U.S. infrastructure is "in really sad shape," NPR news station WBUR reported on Tuesday.

• In a live interview with the Boston hosts of news program Here & Now, Skanska USA's Rich Cavallaro said it would cost trillions of dollars to "have a world-class infrastructure." His take: "Do I think that we can take it all on? No, but we can certainly take a big chunk out of it, and we can put the money where we get the biggest bang for our buck."

• Still, Cavallaro called the outlook for the construction industry "positive." The biggest issue, he said, is the lack of a "steady source of funding so we can move forward."

Dive Insight:

Cavallaro's remarks came as Congress continued to debate funding of the federal Highway Trust Fund, which collects money from a nationwide gas tax and distributes it to the states for building and repairing roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

A series of temporary infusions of cash has kept the fund afloat as lower gas prices and fuel-efficient cars have whittled the take from the gas tax, but politicians and the construction industry agree that a permanent funding solution is needed.