D.C. Infrastructure Report Card

The National Capital Section (NCS) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released the 2021 Report Card for D.C.’s Infrastructure on Tuesday, June 15, 2021.

Click here to download a copy of the 2-page Brochure that summarizes our findings.

Click here to download a copy of the 55-page Report with details about our findings.

JUNE 15, 2021, WASHINGTON, D.C.: The National Capital Section (NCS) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released today the 2021 Report Card for Washington, D.C.'s Infrastructure. The NCS Report Card Committee, consisting of D.C.- area civil engineers, reviewed eight categories of infrastructure, and gave it an overall grade of 'C', which means the District's infrastructure is in mediocre condition.

A: EXCEPTIONAL, B: GOOD, C: MEDIOCRE, D: POOR, F: FAILING.
Each category was evaluated on the basis of capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety, resilience, and innovation.

D.C. has implemented innovative strategies to modernize its energy and wastewater infrastructure to ensure reliable service to its residents. However, the city’s levees and transit network are not prepared to meet future needs. The committee graded bridges (B-), drinking water (C+), energy (C+), levees (D), rail (B), roads (D+), transit (D) and wastewater (B-).

“The capital’s infrastructure systems are getting closer to where we want them to be,” said Ranjit Sahai, P.E., ASCE’s D.C. Report Card Committee Chair. “We have seen encouraging trends since the 2016 report was issued when the grade was a ‘C-‘, but D.C. must continue to explore all solutions to improve the grades if we are to accommodate a growing population and economy in the future.”

The Report Card was created as a public service to citizens and policymakers to inform them of the infrastructure needs in their state. Civil engineers used their expertise and school report card-style letter grades to condense complicated data into an easy-to-understand analysis of D.C.’s infrastructure. ASCE State and Regional Infrastructure Report Cards are modeled after the national Infrastructure Report Card, which gave America’s infrastructure an overall grade of ‘C-’ in 2021.

To view the D.C. Infrastructure Report Card and all eight categories, navigate to this link.