Roadmap plots remedies for Canada’s creaky infrastructure

Four venerable engineering organizations in Canada have collaborated to produce an action plan on improving the country’s road and water infrastructure.
The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers, the Canadian Public Works Association and the National Research Council released the first Civil Infrastructure Systems Technology Road Map on June 6. Andr Juneau, the Deputy Head of Infrastructure Canada, was on hand to receive the report.
The technology roadmap contains 10 objectives and 10 recommendations aimed at charting new and innovative ways to improve the maintenance and rehabilitation of our road and water systems. Highlights include:
 Cataloguing and assessing infrastructure inventories for weakness and deterioration;
 Greater public investment in research and innovation;
 Disseminating information about best practices through academic curriculum and lifelong learning;
 Measuring progress of the technology roadmap in five years; and,
 The creation of an impartial expert, advisory body on infrastructure, that brings all infrastructure stakeholders together to counsel the federal government on renewal, investment, and addressing policy gaps.
The roadmap was written after a broad national consultation process involving steering committees, expert panels, studies on Canada’s infrastructure, and five town hall meetings.
Canada’s civil infrastructure system represents a $1.6 trillion asset, say the four organizations, and it is “the cornerstone of our society’s safety, health and economic prosperity.” However, the long-term prognosis for Canada’s infrastructure is in jeopardy. Our national infrastructure debt now totals $60 billion dollars and 50% of it will have reached the end of its serviceable lifespan by 2027.
Copies of the report are available from the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers.
(Click on the Link on Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine’s home page).