America has always been known for its excellent roads. It can be said that American highways have become a hallmark of the United States.
Yet one nagging doubt remains: Are these roads really that good?
As we remember, one of President Donald Trump’s biggest campaign promises was to rebuild America’s road infrastructure by investing not less than $1 billion (!!), thus creating tens of thousands of high paying jobs. This is an absolutely astronomical number, even by American standards!
But is it true that American roads are in such a deplorable state, requiring huge investments, which even the U.S. cannot afford?
Alas, it is true. More precisely, it is partially true.
America actually has been especially famous for its high quality roads; and they are, but only when it comes to state highways and toll roads.
The situation is just the opposite with the roads in rural areas, so it is not without reason that we say America is a country of contrasts. In fact, to rebuild the nation’s roads, $1 billion will not be enough.
Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers publishes the Infrastructure Report Card, which grades the current state of the national infrastructure. According to its latest report, released in March 2017, the state of America’s roads had significantly deteriorated over the previous four years. The country’s infrastructure received an overall grade of “D+,” which is catastrophic. The ASCE estimates that America must invest $4.59 trillion over the next five years to bring this grade up to a “B.” Put bluntly, it is a national disaster and in this respect, America comes nowhere close to matching countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Norway, among others.
Today, the deteriorating infrastructure of the U.S. causes hundreds of billions of dollars in economic damage every year. Moreover, the ASCE estimates that 10% of all national bridges are inadequate and require an additional $123 billion for their urgent repair or reconstruction. Therefore, the excellent state of American roads is but a memory.
The fall of any empire is always accompanied by infrastructure breakdown. The United States is a modern empire and its infrastructure is falling apart.
This is occurring in tandem with the collapse of American society, which is being viciously divided right before our eyes. No power can bring Americans together again. This split is irreversible. It is only a matter of time before it leads the United States to decay and degradation
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