Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Several high-profile incidents have focused attention on deficiencies in the
public works infrastructure of the U.S., which includes bridges, tunnels,
highways, roads, railroads, airports, canals, dams, dikes, artificial harbors,
and some pipelines. The most recent such incident was the collapse of the
Interstate 35-W bridge in Minnesota that ran over the Mississippi River in
August 2007, which plunged dozens of cars and their occupants into the river,
killed 13 people, and caused traffic problems that will continue for years to
come.
Two years earlier, in August 2005, the levees and floodwalls protecting the
city of New Orleans failed at multiple points during Hurricane Katrina,
flooding much of the city. The official death toll in New Orleans from the
hurricane and flooding was more than 1,300 people, and property damage was in
the tens of billions of dollars.
The deficiencies are not limited to bridges and levees, and disasters are not
always necessary to call attention to the deteriorating state of the U.S.
public works infrastructure. The condition of the pavement on highways and
roads throughout the country is a case in point.
Statistics from the Federal Highway Administration indicate that the
percentage of total vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on pavements with acceptable
ride quality has decreased over the past several years. The overall
deterioration adversely impacts travel in many ways, including increased wear
and tear on vehicle suspensions and tires; delays associated with vehicles
slowing to avoid potholes or other road damage; crashes caused by drivers
losing control of their vehicles; and reductions in fuel economy.
The solution to many of these problems lies in the construction materials and
other technologies used to build and maintain the bridges, roads, and other
public works. As of the writing of this report (i.e., November 2007), the
cause of the Minneapolis bridge collapse is still unknown, although there is
belief that corrosion may have played a role, as it did in the 1967 collapse
of the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River between Ohio and West Virginia, which
killed 46 people.
An investigation found that that the Silver Bridge disaster resulted from
stress corrosion and corrosion fatigue in the carbon steel of which the Silver
Bridge was constructed. The investigators also claimed that the conditions
that caused the collapse could not have been detected in advance unless the
bridge had been taken apart and tested. This finding underlines the importance
of material selection in ensuring the longevity and safety of public works
projects, as well as the importance of nondestructive testing technologies to
accurately monitor structural integrity on an ongoing basis.
The debate over funding the cost of repairing and upgrading America' s
infrastructure, which has become more public in the aftermath of the
Minneapolis disaster, has highlighted another fact: The financial resources to
pay for the needed infrastructure repairs and upgrades, which according to
some estimates could ultimately total more than a trillion dollars, are
presently unavailable.
In particular, the Federal Highway Fund, which is supposed to finance the
lion' s share of road and safety projects, is expected to have a negative
balance by 2010 or 2011. Proposals to finance the cost of bridge repairs by
increasing the federal gasoline tax have been met with significant political
opposition. As a result of these financial pressures, cost effectiveness
should be added to long service life and safety as key criteria for choosing
appropriate construction materials and technologies.
SCOPE OF STUDY
This report contains:
- Descriptions of various advanced materials and technologies for public
works including metals and alloys, superior performing asphalt pavements, high
performance concrete, fiber-reinforced polymer composites, geopolymers,
geosynthetics, smart materials and advanced structural subassemblies.
- The current market status of advanced materials and technologies for the
public works industry, with trends and forecasts for growth over the next 5
years
- Discussion of new technologies and a thorough patent analysis
- Analysis of the advanced materials and technologies for public works in
the U.S., both from a market and application perspective
- Profiles of the major developers and manufacturers of advanced
infrastructure materials and technologies
METHODOLOGY AND INFORMATION SOURCES
The findings and conclusions of this report are based on information gathered
from a wide range of sources, including infrastructure operators, vendors, and
engineering and consulting firms. Interview data were combined with
information gathered through an extensive review of secondary sources such as
trade publications, trade associations, company literature, and on-line
databases to produce the projections contained in this report.
The base-year for analysis and projection is 2006. With 2006 as a baseline,
market projections were developed for period ranging from 2007 to 2012. These
projections are based on a consensus among the primary contacts combined with
our understanding of the key market drivers and their impact from a historical
and analytical perspective.
The methodologies and assumptions used to develop the market projections in
this report are discussed at length under the various types of airport
technology addressed. The report carefully documents data sources and
assumptions. Thus, readers can see how the market estimates were developed and
can test the impact on the final numbers of changing assumptions (e.g., price).
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