Public infrastructures: money, construction ... and vision

by Mr. Zaki Ghavitian, Eng., président of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec

Op Ed letter, for February 11, 2009. Announcements of government spending on infrastructure are flowing non-stop. The budgets are virtually exploding. This year alone, Québec will devote $3.7 billion to rebuilding its highway network, and more than 40% of this amount will be spent on developing new roads. This is all part of an immense plan to spend $41.8 billion between 2008 and 2013. Ottawa is not to be outdone: $12 billion in 2 years for public infrastructures, including $7 billion just for the municipalities, which, it cannot be denied, are sorely in need.

This is spectacular catch-up spending when you consider that it took years and the de la Concorde overpass disaster to make the case that infrastructures need to be maintained and sustainably funded. But beyond catching up, the development investments create new obligations that we must accept.

Are we ready to spend all these billions in society's best interest in such a short period of time? This sudden windfall requires some serious thought, and the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec has put its collective mind to it.

Human and entrepreneurial resources: some questions

After remaining very low for years because of the lack of jobs, the number of civil engineering graduates is finally growing again. Long neglected educational programs are also receiving better funding. But these newcomers need supervision, at a time when many older engineers are getting ready to retire. The next generation of engineers and the transfer of knowledge between senior and new civil engineers are major issues that require our full attention and involve the organizations that employ them, and above all Quebec's Ministère des Transports. After all, it is engineers who have the competence and expertise necessary to bring all these projects to completion.

The same issues arise for industry, which must grow rapidly to be able to execute these new projects and integrate new technologies.

At the same time, we cannot ignore the risk of overheating the public works sector, which could result in increased prices that would certainly not benefit society. Besides the Ministère des Transports, there are some 1,115 municipalities, not to mention the main players in the field of energy, public transit, health and social services, who are also planning billions of dollars of investments and public works. All these clients and other players in the construction industry must work together and schedule their activities, taking into account the resources and limits of the industry and potentially extending certain less critical investments over time.

Vision

Beyond human and entrepreneurial resources, it is a long-term vision that we need. The municipalities, for example, also manage essential infrastructures. Despite significant progress, few of them yet have the means and the expertise necessary to build and manage their infrastructures in the long term.

A change of culture is required. We have to avoid repeating the errors of the past and instead find the resources that will enable us to cope with the unpredictable changes in political and economic cycles. It takes vision, objectivity and stability. That is why the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec recommends the implementation of integrated, long-term maintenance plans by all owners and managers of infrastructures, including the municipalities, public agencies and the Ministère des Transports.

A maintenance plan describes the various activities - preventive maintenance in all its forms, rehabilitation or renovation, reconstruction - that must be planned in the long term to give citizens a satisfactory level of quality at a minimum overall cost. Such a plan covers all infrastructures: roads, structures and underground networks. It gives the owners of infrastructures a consistent vision of reality and how it changes. This implies a diagnosis, setting priorities and planning maintenance as a function of the lifecycle of the infrastructures. Public interest and citizen confidence are sure to benefit.

Changing a culture takes time and political will. It is vital that we start right now, and Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec is doing its part. We should add that the OIQ's 2009 Symposium, an event that is focused on the professional development of engineers, will deal with infrastructures and public works.

A responsibility we must assume

Infrastructures are like people: they need continuing care, especially as they get older. After the necessary catching-up, like the one underway for overpasses, bridges and highway interchanges, after a construction boom to develop our highway network, we need programs to assure their maintenance and keep them in good condition. Hence the importance of avoiding rushing headlong into projects, as if there were no tomorrow. Once the economy improves, it will be all too easy to forget the maintenance of the infrastructures and move on to something else. That is a serious error that should never be repeated.

In this period of economic uncertainty, given the risk of recession, announcements of unprecedented investment programs are reassuring and motivating. But they are not enough. Let us insist that this money be invested wisely, sustainably and responsibly.