by AF 0831 h3 — September 1, 2010—Expeditious development of renewable and traditional energy infrastructure has been named the decade’s most critical engineering challenge by top engineering company leaders, according to a just-released survey conducted by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACED).
The survey of 323 U.S. engineering CEOs, chairmen and presidents yielded a list of the top six engineering challenges of the decade. Remedying the nation’s inadequate energy infrastructure was ranked first by the largest group of respondents (30 percent), followed closely by upgrading deficient transportation infrastructure (29 percent).
Energy infrastructure topped the list, even though only 4 percent of the respondents identified energy as their firms primary area of expertise, compared to 30 percent who named transportation and 22 percent who named water/wastewater.
Other survey choices included: expanding the nations inadequate water, wastewater and flood control infrastructure (21 percent); securing the nation’s social and economic infrastructure against cyber attacks (11 percent); implementing sustainable building designs to reduce environmental degradation (5 percent), and improving the national electric grid (5 percent).
The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is the business association of America’s engineering industry, representing nearly 5,500 independent engineering companies throughout the United States engaged in the development of America’s transportation, water and energy infrastructure, along with environmental, industrial and other public and private facilities.
For more information and detailed survey data, visit the ACEC Web site.
