ASCE: U.S. Infrastructure Needs $9 Trillion in Investment

Four years after its approval, what effects is the historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), having?

Also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the 2021 law authorized $1.2 trillion for spending on infrastructure, of which $550 billion was allocated for the first five years since its implementation. So, where do we stand? According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American infrastructure has improved, but only slightly.

The details come with the 2025 edition of the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, which ASCE publishes every four years to assess the condition and prospects of 18 categories of U.S. infrastructure, including bridges, roads, airports, ports, dams, water networks, and power grids.

On a descending scale from A to F, this year the overall U.S. infrastructure received a C grade, an improvement compared to both the 2021 result (C-) and the average grade typically achieved in the past (D). An A means that “the structures meet modern standards of functionality,” while an F indicates that “conditions are unacceptable, with widespread and advanced signs of deterioration.”

For the report’s editors (who first introduced it in 1998), this year’s result for U.S. infrastructure should still be read with cautious optimism, because “although it is the highest ever, it remains significantly below expectations.”

ASCE also reports that among the infrastructure categories examined in this edition of the report, the grades for energy networks (D+) and railroads (B-) have declined compared to previous assessments.

For the energy sector, the report’s authors expressed clear concern given the increasing use of electric vehicles and the growing number of data centers, many of which are used for artificial intelligence and will require 35 gigawatts by 2030.

On the other hand, eight infrastructure categories improved their grades in the latest report, including dams and hazardous waste management facilities.

The key word resonating in the 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure is “resilience.” Natural disasters are increasingly frequent, so much so that in 2024 alone, 27 extreme weather events in the U.S. caused damages exceeding $182 billion. The need to build adequately and resiliently, and to ensure constant and proper maintenance of infrastructure, has been widely demonstrated, for example, by the devastating Florida hurricanes Helene and Milton and the recent wildfires in California.

ASCE has noted that to ensure the 18 infrastructure categories outlined in the 2025 report are in “a state of good repair,” $9.1 trillion would be needed over the next 10 years, while it has been estimated that the total public and private investments planned for U.S. infrastructure amount to only $5.4 trillion, leaving a gap of $3.7 trillion.

Closing this gap would bring benefits not only to infrastructure safety but also, more broadly, to the economic well-being of Americans. Failure to invest, however, could result in a GDP loss of $5 trillion over the next 20 years and a reduction in exports of $244 billion.

A reference model in the American resilient infrastructure landscape is the state of Florida, one of the area’s most prone to extreme weather calamities and among the states with the highest population growth, averaging 300,000 new residents per year, equivalent to adding a city the size of Orlando each year, which in 2024 had a population of 2,101,000.

In 2021, ASCE published the Florida Infrastructure Report Card (still the most recent available), giving the “Sunshine State” a C grade. Among the infrastructure categories examined, Florida’s road and highway network received a C+ (while nationally this category received a D+), and the condition of its bridges was graded B (compared to a C nationally).

According to that report from four years ago, Florida demonstrated efficient state resource management and planning, and to keep up with its growing infrastructure needs, the administration was also planning interventions “with greater attention to creating resilient infrastructure.”

In practice, construction sites have multiplied in Florida, and new projects are under study. To avoid congestion in the busiest areas, new road intersections, highway exits, and high-capacity roads are being built.

Among the major infrastructure builders in the country, Lane Construction (Webuild Group) is involved in several projects. In the Tampa, Lakeland, and Orlando areas, Lane has been entrusted with strategic road hubs such as the Westshore Interchange, where three major Florida arteries—the I-275, SR 60, and Veterans Expressway—intersect. Additionally, the company is also working on expanding the Seminole Expressway/SR 417, which will become a strategic corridor to the Orlando area and an evacuation route in case of hurricanes.