Archived: Maintain Washington Infrastructure Assets

A healthy infrastructure is an essential aspect of a thriving and prosperous economy. Jobs to build and maintain public infrastructure tend to be high-paying and result both in direct and induced economic impacts. Adequate and reliable transportation infrastructure allows for the efficient movement of goods and people, and non-transportation infrastructure assets (such as water and sewage systems, waste facilities and communications technologies) are important to quality of life, safety and environmental protection, and economic development.

Eighty-five percent of the infrastructure assets included in the Washington state Infrastructure Health Index were satisfactory in 2014, 1 percent less than the 2013 baseline target of 86 percent. Five of the eight assets (pavement, bridges, ferry terminals, ferry vessels and broadband) included in the index were considered satisfactory, with less than 10 percent of their systems needing improvement. The remaining three assets (transit fleet, drinking water and wastewater) had more than 25 percent of their systems needing improvement.

Improvements in the Infrastructure Health Index can only be achieved by improving the eight assets included in the index:

• For specific strategies on improving transportation infrastructure assets in Washington, refer to the leading indicator reports for bridge conditions, pavement conditions, ferry terminal and vessel systems, and transit fleet conditions.
• Specific strategies will soon be released for non-transportation infrastructure assets.

For more information on the infrastructure assets included in the Infrastructure Health Index, refer to the following webpages:

Washington State Department of Transportation: http://wsdot.wa.gov/

Washington State Department of Commerce: http://www.commerce.wa.gov/

Washington State Department of Ecology: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/

Reported by: Washington State Department of Transportation