Fernando de Querol Cumbrera
Research expert covering construction, loans, leasing, savings, and debt
Infrastructure in the United States - statistics & facts
Infrastructure is necessary for a functioning economy as it enables individuals, companies, and other actors to operate. There are many types of infrastructure, but each has the goal of providing an environment in which both businesses and people in a country can thrive. Spending on infrastructure construction does not just have the goal of creating new roads, airports, bridges, electricity transmission lines, mobile network towers, or dams, but also of maintaining that infrastructure. Many U.S. states have a high share of urban highways with poor pavement, which will need to be repaired in the coming years.
Transport infrastructure
Highway, street construction, and other transportation projects were among the types of infrastructure with the highest spending levels in the United States, followed by power infrastructure. In the coming years, those figures are expected to keep increasing as many roads and bridges need to be maintained. However, the spending on new transportation infrastructure is expected to keep increasing, with forecasts indicating that the spending on new road construction will reach approximately 153 billion U.S. dollars by 2027.Power infrastructure for a lower carbon economy
In 2022, power construction spending in the U.S. was well over 100 billion U.S. dollars. Not all of that spending went towards the construction and maintenance of power plants. For example, apart from investment in renewable energy generation, the electricity grid is also necessary for a transition to a lower-emission economy. Investing in electric transmission projects to ensure that electricity grids are well-connected is crucial. Even if solar or wind power plants are not generating electricity in your area, transmission lines may be able to provide that renewable energy from other regions where those plants are functioning. Thus, smart grids could also be an important tool in our path toward decarbonization, as they allow distributing electricity even more efficiently.
