Underground Construction - February 2022 - 17

24th Annual Municipal Sewer/Water Infrastructure Forecast
more market dollars are now available
than ever before. COVID is fading, but
other problems remain. Supply chain
issues linger, and a lack of workforce could
slow work. However, all things considered,
municipalities across the country
expressed optimism.
" Even with the fl are-up of Omicron,
the fallout has been pretty mild, " said a
Southwest muni manager. " We're fi nally
looking forward to a pretty normal year for
a change. "
Another offi cial from the Pacifi c
Northwest agreed. " Omicron is not hitting
us hard like other versions - we think this
will eventually become a normal year - at
least from the city's point of view. "
With the substantial increase in
federal dollars, America's cities estimated
spending, for new and replacement
constructions, at $4.2 billion on water (an
amount which could jump dramatically,
depending upon how fast cities developed
lead pipe replacement plans and how
nimbly agencies can react in allotting those
funds); $2.2 billion on stormwater; and
$6.01 billion for sewer.
For rehabilitation, $3.2 billion is
expected for water, $1.6 billion for storm
sewer and $5.62 billion for sewer, or an
increase of 16.6 percent. In total, projected
underground infrastructure spending for
municipalities in 2022 is $22.83 billion, an
increase of 16.4 percent from 2021.
Dream dollars
With the pandemic largely putting the
brakes on local cities' economic growth
in 2020-'21, it was no surprise that
survey respondents are excited about the
opportunities to play catch up in 2022
through 2026. However, as cited earlier,
the available funding still falls far short
of actual needs or the capacity for cities
to ramp up to that level of work. To grasp
the magnitude of the spending gap that
exists, respondents were asked: how much
funding is necessary to bring your sewer,
water and stormwater systems up to date
over a fi ve-year period? Survey participants
estimated that, collectively, more than
$665 billion would be required.
Still, dealing with the major increase in
dollars has been made easier for many cities
through aggressive asset management
programs they have in place, providing
them with a much better grasp of their
system status and needs. City offi cials
report that asset management continues
to play a strong and growing role in
project planning. More than 49 percent of
America's cities report having a program
fully in place, compared to 48 percent in
" Even with the fl are-up of
Omicron, the fallout has been
pretty mild, " said a Southwest
muni manager. " We're fi nally
looking forward to a pretty
normal year for a change. "
PIPE
FUSION AS
EASY AS...
TRACSTAR® iSERIES
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          
TracStar 630i
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UCONonline.com | FEBRUARY 2022
17
12 3
Operatorcontrolled
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 
Softwarecontrolled
shift
sequence and
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Fully automatic



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Underground Construction - February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Underground Construction - February 2022