TrafÀc navigates a road construction zone in Clinton. A recent assessment by a civil engineers association gave Utah roads a B-plus grade, the highest in the Utah infrastructure report ard. (Brice Wallace/Salt Lake Business Journal)
Infrastructure is never a sexy topic, but its many forms are necessary for human life in a civilized society and the needs are more acute in a growing environment.
If recommendations from an engineering group become reality, Utah could see renovations of everything from dams to drinking water for decades to come.
The Utah section of the American Society of Civil Engineers this spring evaluated the state’s infrastructure, calling for improvement to match the state’s ballooning population.
The infrastructure report card, released every four years, gave Utah an overall C-plus grade, unchanged from 2020. The new state report followed a national report card released that also gave Utah a C-plus grade, a notch above the national C grade, and the highest among states. Only Utah, Georgia and Wisconsin earned C-plus grades. The national report card’s C grade for the U.S. is the highest grade since the report card series started in 1998.
The state report notes that Utah’s population is projected to double by 2060 as people are lured to the state by economic opportunities and outdoor recreation options for skiing, five national parks, hiking and biking.
“These factors contribute to population and economic growth, which relies on quality infrastructure to maintain a high quality of life,” the report states.
While state, federal and local agencies have been investing in Utah’s infrastructure, “the gap between infrastructure needs and available funding continues to grow,” it says.
The Utah organization stressed the “continued need for resilient, reliable and innovative infrastructure to benefit all Utahns.”
“Reliable infrastructure is a backbone of Utah’s economy,” Lingkun Li, president of the Utah section, said in announcing the report findings. “When our infrastructure is working, it is typically out of sight and out of mind.”
But Utah infrastructure troubles can have major consequences to public health, safety and welfare and can jeopardize economic growth, “and we need to do everything possible to prevent future disruptions,” he said.
Of the categories assessed, aviation (C-plus) was the only one to show improvement from 2020’s C grade, thanks mostly to improvements at Salt Lake City International Airport.
However, the report said, “it is important to not neglect the needs of the smaller commercial airports and general aviation airports that serve the more remote areas of the state. The gap is increasing between necessary expenditures for maintaining and improving the state’s network of airports and available funding. This will soon need to be addressed to maintain safety and resilience throughout the system.”
Other Utah infrastructure areas in the report include:
• Roads, B-plus. Ninety-five percent of Utah roads are in good or fair condition, mostly due to recent funding and intensive planning. “Utah is consistently adding capacity to the roadway network and promotes an ‘all users’ mindset to provide a safer, more equitable system for everyone that uses a road,” it says.
• Bridges, B, down from B-plus in 2020. The state has 3,125 bridges, and “state and local agencies in Utah have demonstrated that funds allocated for the preservation, rehabilitation, and replacement of bridges are thoughtfully and judiciously spent,” according to the report.
But a funding shortfall has contributed to a 44 percent increase in poor-condition bridges from 2020 to 2024. During that time, Utah bridges in good condition also decreased by over 40 percent and those in fair condition increased more than 25 percent.
If the state does not quicken its bridge construction, it would take more than a century at the current pace to replace all existing bridges in Utah.
• Transit, B-minus, far ahead of the national’s D grade but below Utah’s B-plus of 2020.
Utah’s eight transit agencies provide access to 95 percent of the state population, the highest rate in the nation. “Utah can continue to improve public transit by giving more support to rural transit providers, updating or replacing seismically deficient facilities, and continuing to plan for future growth,” the report says.
• Drinking water: B-minus, as most of the state’s pipelines are more than 50 years old “and nearing the end of its design life.”
“With the population projected to increase by 66 percent by 2060, the strain on water supply and infrastructure will intensify,” it says, adding that earthquakes pose a major threat and both urban and agricultural users must cut consumption to support restorative flows to the shrinking Great Salt Lake.
• Wastewater systems: C, with a need to expand to meet expected demand over the next 40 years.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants in Utah generally are meeting required technology limits but “a growing number of systems are at risk of exceeding their design life and/or design capacity” and have been unable to keep up with repairs and replacements.
• Levees, D-minus. Utah has nearly 100 miles of levees, with most at least 60 years old, “but current funding for improving levees is very limited” and “Utah’s levee infrastructure is rapidly reaching a point of failure in sections of our highly urbanized areas.”
• Canals, D-plus, with most built in the 1800s. “Canals serve as lifelines for water distribution across diverse landscapes, necessitating robust oversight and preventative measures to ensure water quality and system integrity,” the report says. “While state leadership maintains an inventory of Utah’s canals, the condition or risk of private entities remains largely unknown, namely risks from extreme weather or events.”
• Dams, C-plus. The state has 870 dams and the report calls for innovative efforts related to maintaining, rehabilitating and constructing dams. Dams typically have a life of 50 to 100 years, but the average age of Utah dams is 64 years. Rehabbing all dams could take 50 years.
• Hazardous waste, C-plus. The report suggested nine actions for improving the state’s hazardous waste management.
• Solid waste, B-minus. While currently “well-positioned” to manage solid waste, the state has room to improve, according to the report. A solid waste master plan has not been updated in almost 20 years and recycling rates are below the national average.
• Stormwater, C. “Utah’s stormwater management systems face increasing strain due to rapid development and more frequent high-intensity storms,” the report says. It calls for continued investment and updated infrastructure in order to reduce flooding risks and ensure water quality across the state.
The full report is available at https://infrastructurereportcard.org/state-item/utah/.