The aughts have been called “The Decade From Hell,” and certainly there was more than enough bad news to justify the title. But the past decade has not lacked for major infrastructure stories, both in the U.S. and abroad. If it’s true that infrastructure is one of the most telling indicators of how a nation is faring, then there’s plenty to gain from examining the major trends around the world — and to see where the U.S. emerges in the greater scheme.
Here are the top 10 largest infrastructure-related stories of the past decade. While the list does include international projects, the focus is on the U.S. Here is the first half. Look for the Top 5 tomorrow.
10. The Lötschberg Base Tunnel OpensBuilt in just over 2 years, this railway path underneath the Alps is the longest land tunnel in the world. It accommodates both passenger and freight trains, thereby easing truck traffic on small Swiss roads and slashing travel time for German tourists heading to Alpine ski resorts. The tunnel marked a major success for the Swiss Alp Transit initiative, though it remains unfinished, with plans for a second track still waiting for funding (the tunnel itself cost $3.5 billion, which was $840 million over budget but is downright cheap compared to plenty of U.S. projects).
9. Water Water, Not EverywhereWater — the lack of it, the infrastructure necessary to get it, and the constant anxiety about running out of it — may not be the sexiest, most headline-grabbing topic around, but it’s one of the most important — no matter what, there is no way a community can exist without it. As such, water infrastructure has been a key story for much of the decade. In the western half of the U.S., rampant population growth and unchecked home building led to the near-decimation of the Colorado river, and the complete overloading of existing water infrastructure in states like Arizona and Nevada. And then there’s California. Perhaps the most poetic close of the decade was the New York Times revelation that since 2004, more than 62 million Americans have drunk tap water that didn’t meet at least one commonly used government health guideline intended to protect from cancer or serious disease. See what happens when we ignore the non-sexy topics?
8. Wind FarmsWhether wind will offer a viable solution to fossil fuels remains to be seen, but one thing’s for certain: The construction of large-scale wind farms has one of the decade’s major undertakings. In 2002 there was the completion of Horns Rev Wind Farm off Denmark, the largest offshore wind farm in the world, followed by Horns Rev 2, completed earlier this year. The combined capacity of the two farms is 369 MW, which could supply electricity to approximately 350,000 Danish homes. Meanwhile, over in Texas, we saw the completion of Roscoe, with 627 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 781.5 MW, and Horse Hollow, with with 735.5 MW — the two largest wind farms in the country. (For solar fans, there was also the 2008 construction of Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park in Spain, the largest solar plant in the world.)
7. Bicycling in U.S. CitiesWhile transportation (more specifically, our reliance on the fuels necessary to use it) has dominated the national debate, we can’t deny it: The era of the bicycle is here. In Portland, there was the surge of bike-to-work movements, giving the city a mile-wide #1 spot in bicycle commuting. Then there’s Colorado, with its official “bike to work” day, and San Francisco, with 70 miles of bike lanes for the city’s over 40,000 riders. In New York City, Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan has sparked biker-joy and controversy by adding scores of bike lanes to some of the city’s most congested areas. Then, of course, there are the stories that accompanying the boom — thefts, safety, and our favorite, why girls don’t bike.
6. The Minnesota Bridge Collapse We’ve been hammering at a single scare-story for a while now: U.S. infrastructure is suffering from years of neglect, which if left unchecked could result in disaster. Unfortunately, in August of 2007, the scare-tale became a reality when the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed into the Mississippi River, killing 13 people. A subsequent investigation found that the disaster occurred because of faulty design — the bridge was designed in the early 1960s and lasted 40 years, but gradually gained weight over time as workers installed concrete structures to separate eastbound and westbound lanes etc. One cause for hope in the aftermath: A replacement bridge had been completed and opened by September of 2008.
Tags: Alternative Energy, water
Can’t mention Minneapolis twice in one post? We have one tenth of a percentage point less bike commuters than Portland and almost 130 miles of bike lanes/paths throughtout our city.
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/bicycles/
There’s plenty more to it then that, but I always feel that our fair city gets overlooked in the world of biking.
Katrina better be #1
[...] Read More (Read Part 2) [...]
[...] policy. Washington cyclists are forced off the road by an erratic driver. Infrastructurist names the rise of cycling #7 on the top 10 stories of the decade. A 34-year old Bicycling editor could find himself competing [...]