Name: Ohio gets C- on 2021 infrastructure report card, with worst grades in water
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Ohio gets C- on 2021 infrastructure report card, with worst grades in water

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NEW!CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The American Society of Civil Engineers gave Ohio a C- overall in the state’s 2021 infrastructure report card, with drinking water, hazardous waste, stormwater and inland waterways rating the worst in 16 categories with a D+.This was the state’s first infrastructure report card in 12 years, said ASCE Ohio Council of Local Sections president Craig Hebebrand. Hebebrand said “it’s quite a lift” to bring many volunteers together to help produce the evaluation.The report card, produced nationally every year four years, measures the conditions and needs of roads, bridges, drinking water, wastewater and other public infrastructure. Hebebrand emphasized that having proper funding is an important part of improving grades.Here are the grades and information regarding the rail, hazardous waste, wastewater, stormwater, roads and bridges and categories.Rail: BRail received the top grade out of all 16 categories, with solid waste earning the second-highest grade of a B-. Hebebrand said a reason rail graded well was because of investments made during the past decade. One key investment was that all , the ones that make up the majority of the nation’s rail infrastructure, recently put in positive train control to stop trains remotely in case of a problem.“Hopefully it will save lives,” Hebebrand said. “That was a huge investment by the Class I railroads across the country.”According to the state’s report card, Ohio ranks fourth in the nation for total miles of track with 5,188. The state’s freight railroads also carry 289 million tons of freight a year.Hazardous Waste: D+When it comes to hazardous waste, the report card said the state has more than 9,000 empty and contaminate brownfield properties that could bring in additional tax revenue, create jobs and take care of the environment through redevelopment.The report card also noted Ohio is lacking in Capital Projects funding, as the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency budget had $0 in fiscal year 2019. The budget had $364,000 in fiscal year 2018 and $194,000 in fiscal year 2017.“We’ve got a lot of legacy sites. We’ve got a lot of remnants of past industries in that,” Hebebrand said. “Those sites take a long time to clean up. The money that becomes available isn’t all at once, so it’s over years to clean those sites up. I think in the past we’ve done the hard work of identifying them all, and now it’s just going through the list and cleaning them up and they’re not quick fixes.”Wastewater: DStormwater: D+Drinking water: D+The state’s drinking water, wastewater and stormwater are all user-funded, meaning customers are billed for the system. Hebebrand said drinking water can vary depending on local agencies throughout the state. Infrastructure such as underground pipes are aging and are nearing the end of their effective life, Hebebrand said.The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District is in the midst of a during heavy rain storms.Spokeswoman Jeannie Smith said the Sewer District received $555 million in federal funding to help with upgrades from 1972-1990 and about $100 million from 1991-2011, but the district does not currently receive significant federal funding to offset costs.According to the report card, the stormwater infrastructure that accommodates the state’s nearly 12 million residents is undersized and aging. Stormwater infrastructure spending needs a boost, as the state ranks 41st in the country.“We have to charge the appropriate rates to ensure that we are covering all the costs of the projects that we have to do within our region,” Smith said. “But those rates continue to increase at varying rates but it would be helpful to receive federal funding to help offset those costs of it.”Bridges: C+Roads: DThe state’s bridges and roads didn’t receive flattering grades, but most of the bridges the Ohio Department of Transportation maintains are in good shape, said ODOT press secretary Matt Bruning. ODOT doesn’t maintain all the state’s roadways and bridges -- only interstates and state and US routes outside municipalities.Bruning said of the bridges ODOT takes care of -- about 14,000 of the state’s 44,736 -- on average are rated about a 7 on a scale of 0-9, with zero being a failed bridge and nine a brand new one. Bruning said only about 231 of ODOT’s bridges are rated a 4 or lower. A four is labeled “structurally deficient,” meaning some sort of structural issue needs to be addressed, Bruning said.Of the roadways ODOT takes care of, about 85% are rated in good condition, Bruning said.“By and large, our bridge inventory at ODOT is in pretty good condition, and we are very aggressive about keeping it that way,” Bruning said. “As bridges start to age and they get older, we program those bridges for either a major rehabilitation or replacement. So we’ve got a lot of those bridges already in the program to be addressed. We don’t have any bridges on the ODOT system that are closed due to condition.”Here are the remaining grades from the rest of the categoriesDams: C-Energy: CInland Waterways: D+Levees: DParks: C-Ports: CSchools: C+Solid Waste: B-Transit: DNote to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The American Society of Civil Engineers gave Ohio a C- overall in the state’s 2021 infrastructure report card, with drinking water, hazardous waste, stormwater and inland waterways rating the worst in 16 categories with a D+.This was the state’s first infrastructure report card in 12 years, said ASCE Ohio Council of Local Sections president Craig Hebebrand. Hebebrand said “it’s quite a lift” to bring many volunteers together to help produce the evaluation.The report card, produced nationally every year four years, measures the conditions and needs of roads, bridges,...

Ohio gets C- on 2021 infrastructure report card, with worst grades in water

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