AzSCE Newsletter
"The Arizona Civil Engineer"
July 2008

President's Message
By Denis Howe, P.E., M.ASCE
AzSCE President

I Thought You Were an Engineer, But I Guess You're Not.

ASCE's quest, along with many other engineering societies and government agencies, to draw attention to the depleting condition of the nation's infrastructure, and the need for additional and improved infrastructure, appears to be gaining ground in the public arena. Since the inception of ASCE's National Report Card, there has been an effort to draw attention to the nations critical infrastructure needs.

With a similar goal in mind, the Department of Homeland Security has developed National Infrastructure Protection Program Sector-Specific Plans. They state that:
Protecting the critical infrastructure and key resources of the United States is essential to the nation's security, public health, safety, and economic vitality. Our vast infrastructure network includes thousands of essential facilities and plants, transportation networks and information technology systems. Widely dispersed throughout every geographic area in the country, these assets sustain our very way of life.

While new and different methods are some of the answers to the infrastructure problem, the central issue is more along the lines of how well we compete for the public and private dollars that are needed to make the difference.

ADOT has recently started a new campaign for a 1 cent sales tax to provide for funding roadway improvements in the near future. Mary Peters, Secretary of Transportation for President George W. Bush, is promoting the three Ps (Public Private Partnerships) to get private investors more involved. While the gap can be forecast in real dollars for transportation, and in similar manners for utility needs, schools, etc., the answers are not readily available.

Granted, no one has all of the answers, but it is incumbent upon us as an engineering society to help bring about the solutions. We need to become involved in the non-engineering aspects of our profession even though we have to get involve "outside of the box", pardon the cliché.

When I have to move out of my comfort zone I am often reminded of a comment my daughter made when she was about six-years old. She asked me to fix something for her and I had to tell her that it was beyond repair. I'll never forget the look on her face when she disgustingly said, "I thought you were an engineer, but I guess you're not." The world has historically looked to engineers for resolutions to their problems, and we need to help in that effort now, no matter where that takes us.