• The epic floods inflicting Pakistan are tearing up huge swathes of its infrastructure. (NYT)
• The Nigerian capital city of Lagos is cracking down on dangerous motorcycle taxis. (AFP)
• Long shunned by the West, Libya is attracting increasing investment as it tries to boost its economy and improve its infrastructure. (AP)
• A new report shows that the U.S. wasted billions of dollars in trying to rebuild Iraq. (AP) (LAT)
• With the use of five examples, an article takes a look at the ways old infrastructure wears down and how civil engineers are trying to halt the decline. (NYT)
• 600 University of Oregon students are collaborating in making the city of Salem, Oregon, more sustainable. (GreenWire)
Image: Flickr
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Tags: Flooding, Reconstruction
[...] The Infrastructurist links to a New York Times article on a new University of Oregon “Sustainable Cities” program that taps 600 students in 25 classes to develop an economic development plan for the city of Salem and a plan to connect Salem’s parks with bicycle and pedestrian trails. [...]
The NYT article on decaying infrastructure mentions the locks on the Monongahela at Elizabeth, PA and how a breakdown here would increase road usage and electricity costs throughout the Pittsburgh region. It should be noted that several high voltage lines are being run from the cheap, coal fired plants of western PA (which have excess capacity since the decline of heavy industry here), to the DC Baltimore area. (Over the vehement protests of those of us who will see our rates go up and our property values go down, but that’s neither here nor there.) Point is, when the capital’s electricity supply becomes partially dependent on this riverine transport system, they had better take notice and maintain the infrastructure that brings the power to them.
As an aside, going through those locks in a canoe is quite an experience, as is trying to keep from capsizing in the wake of those big coal barges.