America's Infrastructure

Imagine a world without airports! Air travel has changed the way we live and work, but no one would be able to travel without airports. Over the past 100 years, air travel has gone from an unusual adventure to an everyday event. Discover the stories behind eight major U.S. airports, including how they were built, how many people they serve, and the problems and solutions that have changed air travel over the decades. Airports are a vital part of America's infrastructure, and their construction and expansion tell an important story about how Americans live and work today.

Rivers have tumbled down mountains and floated lazily through flat plains in the US since long before Europeans first came to this continent. They were the only highways Native Americans used or needed. Even America's first settlers found it much easier to travel on the waterways than to build roads through the forests. Today our inland waterways carry millions of tons of cargo each year. But our waterways have not received the attention needed to continue their important role in the commerce of our country. Waterways infrastructure such as locks, dams, channels, and levees need help. Many elements are old and need repair or replacement. Expanded infrastructure would allow the US to increase shipping on the waterways. Shipping via water has always been cheaper than shipping by land and remains so today. The US economy can only benefit from investment in our inland waterways.

Ports, harbors and dams all serve great purposes. Dams prevent flooding. They provide a wall against onrushing water to protect people below. Ports and harbors allow ships to arrive from all over the world. Those ships import and export goods that people use. They create jobs and boost the economy. But there is a dark side explored in this book. The dams, ports, and harbors that are not maintained can suffer. The result is that people suffer. Dams can burst and cause flooding that have killed people. Ports and harbors are often filled with garbage and sewage. That is unhealthy and even dangerous for people and wildlife. Their waters are sometimes not deep enough to accept heavy ships. These pages will explain what is being done about those dams, ports, and harbors. Can they be saved?

Infrastructure is something that we use every day, like roads, bridges, and tunnels, but probably never think too much about. However, in the United States, many parts of the country's infrastructure are old, falling apart, and desperately need repair and upgrading. Tunnels especially are vital to transportation, and extremely dangerous when they collapse. This book explores eight tunnels of different types that are lifelines for transportation in the US, but are now at risk. Whether its Boston's Big Dig, the twin railroad tunnels under the Hudson River, California's Hetch Hetchey water system, or a rail tunnel in Baltimore that's more than 100 years old, these tunnels are very important to the entire country. Without emergency repairs and expansion, these tunnels could fail, with catastrophic results.

Rivers have tumbled down mountains and floated lazily through flat plains in the US since long before Europeans first came to this continent. They were the only highways Native Americans used or needed. Even America's first settlers found it much easier to travel on the waterways than to build roads through the forests. Today our inland waterways carry millions of tons of cargo each year. But our waterways have not received the attention needed to continue their important role in the commerce of our country. Waterways infrastructure such as locks, dams, channels, and levees need help. Many elements are old and need repair or replacement. Expanded infrastructure would allow the US to increase shipping on the waterways. Shipping via water has always been cheaper than shipping by land and remains so today. The US economy can only benefit from investment in our inland waterways.

This book explores eight railroads and subways that are lifelines for transportation in the U.S., but are overloaded and often falling apart. Whether its Boston's T, Washington D.C.'s Metro, the crescent Corridor railroad route, or a Desert Line railroad running from the U.S. into Mexico, these pieces of infrastructure are very important to the entire country, but need emergency repairs and expansion right now.

They hover over rivers and lakes and valleys and railroad tracks and even parts of oceans. They can be beautiful and they can be ugly. But most of all, they need to be safe. They are the bridges of the United States. And more than 50,000 of them are in poor condition. Read all about American bridges in need of repair in this book. Learn about the ones that have collapsed and the ones that remain open despite remaining in bad shape. The interesting stories here gives readers a tour of bridges both famous and obscure around the United States.