THE INFRASTRUCTURE CRISIS--TOUCHE ROSS, MIT & PRUDENTIAL-BACHE SECURITIES ROUNDTABLE

Deeply concerned with the acute crisis posed by our nation's crumbling infrastructure, several distinguished construction executives, engineers, public officials, academics, and leaders in the financial community recently met in New York, San Francisco, and Boston for a series of four roundtable discussions sponsored by Touche Ross & Co., Prudential-Bache Securities Inc., and the Center for Construction Research and Education of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In these discussions the participants brought out the crucial technological, managerial, political, and financial challenges raised by the infrastructure crisis and explored the alternative directions we can take to meet them. The first two discussions examined the reasons for the decline in the construction industry's percentage of GNP in the United States, a decline not experienced in other countries, even those that are highly developed. Participants explored the lack of training and the lack of central responsibility with which the industry has been burdened, and considered the charge that the industry has been slow to use technological advances. The third discussion searched for correlations between these characteristics of the industry and the deterioration of infrastructure in the United States. The fourth and final discussion focused on the potential fiscal crisis posed by the formidable task of redeveloping America at a cost estimated in the trillions of dollars. This booklet consists of thoughts and observations expressed in all four discussions, though it is by no means a full transcript of any participant's remarks. It is not even a record of every participant's views, although the participants not quoted here made valuable contributions and sparked many candid exchanges. To provide a cohesive summary of the discussions, one that traces the themes that emerged, the booklet combines all four sessions as though they happened in a single event. Two weeks after the last discussion, the nation's infrastructure made its own statement on Capitol Hill. A large section of sandstone veneer on the west central front of the capitol collapsed into a courtyard. (Author)

• Corporate Authors:

  Touche Ross & Company

  1633 Broadway
  New York, NY  United States  10019

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Center for Construction Research and Education, 77 Massachusetts Avenue
  Cambridge, MA  United States  02139

  Prudential-Bache Securities

  1211 Connecticut Avenue NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20036
• Publication Date: 1983

Media Info

• Pagination: 34 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction industry; Deterioration; Infrastructure; Maintenance management; Training
• Uncontrolled Terms: Maintenance costs
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Construction; Economics; Education and Training; Finance; Highways; Society; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00387357
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 28 1984 12:00AM