New Jersey Must Strengthen Infrastructure before it is too late

The Star-Ledger, the largest newspaper in New Jersey, published an article titled "A year after Irene, experts say N.J. must strengthen infrastructure before it's too late" on August 25, 2012. I was interviewed by the staff writer Stephen Stirling, and was quoted in his article as saying "We are definitely very vulnerable. Our infrastructure is aging — that alone is going to make things like this happen more often. But add climate change on top of that, with more intense rain and more intense drought, and you’re going to see it more and more and more." The full article is available from the newspaper website.

Photo to the left shows flooded road, church, gas station, shop, and bridge along the Millstone River in Hillsborough, New Jersey. Rest of the photos that I took during Irene can be found in my water photo album.


April 28, 2013 Notes: This Star-Ledger article received a lot of attention from the infrastructure community immediately and received renewed attention after Hurricane Sandy.

Some evidence of the attention to the article follows:

(1) American Society of Civil Engineers' SmartBrief: Infrastructure investment needed to avoid catastrophic failures, Published on August 27, 2012. The brief reads:

A year after Tropical Storm Irene caused damage along the East Coast, New Jersey's outmoded infrastructure remains vulnerable to destructive weather events. Earlier this summer, the state experienced a failure in its water system, highlighting the need to make major investments in infrastructure. "We are definitely very vulnerable," said Qizhong Guo, a professor in the civil engineering department at Rutgers University. "Our infrastructure is aging -- that alone is going to make things like this happen more often." The American Society of Civil engineers says updates to the state's water and wastewater systems would cost almost $22 billion.

(2) Homeland Security News Wire: New Jersey infrastructure badly needs shoring up, and soon, Published on August 30, 2012.

(3) American European Insurance Group, Inc.'s Newsletter: One Year After Irene, Along Comes Sandy: What Lessons Did We Learn – and Not Learn?, Published in Fall 2012. A section of the newsletter article reads:

Aging Infrastructure Makes Us Vulnerable

When Sandy struck, the damage it inflicted on our infrastructure was particularly acute because much of the infrastructure was old and had not been designed to anticipate such ferocity.

Just a few months before Sandy arrived, Qizhong Guo, a professor in Rutgers University’s civil engineering department, speaking to NJ.com (August 25, 2012) stated, “We are definitely very vulnerable. . . . Our infrastructure is aging – that alone is going to make things like this [i.e., utility collapses resulting from Irene] happen more often. But add climate change on top of that, with more intense rain and more intense drought, and you’re going to see it more and more and more.”