The Kleinfelder Blog

It’s been one month since industry experts and elected officials discussed the 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. In case you missed it, here’s a quick summary of the grade and what it means.

Since 1998, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has issued an assessment of the United States’ infrastructure networks at a minimum of every four years. Known as the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the message behind the grades consistently tends to be that federal, state, and local governments — in addition to the private sector — need to greater prioritize our interdependent infrastructure systems and reverse the nation’s growing infrastructure investment gap.

It’s been one month since industry experts and elected officials discussed the latest report card (2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure) at ASCE’s Solutions Summit in Washington, D.C., so in case you missed it, here’s a quick summary of the grade and what it means.

America’s Infrastructure Scores a “C”

An overall grade of “C” was assigned to the nation’s infrastructure — the best grade since the reporting began in 1998 and incrementally better than the “C-” assigned in the last report (2021). Eight categories saw improved grades, seven stayed the same, and two slipped.

The 2025 grades are a culmination of 18 individual infrastructure categories (such as stormwater, transit, etc.) that received grades ranging from “B” to “D”. Of note, though, for the first time since 1998, no categories were rated “D−”.

What does a “C” mean?

According to the Grading Scale described in the full report, a grade of “C” is “mediocre and requires attention.” It indicates that the infrastructure in the system or network is in fair to good condition but shows general signs of deterioration and requires attention. Some elements exhibit significant deficiencies in conditions and functionality, increasing vulnerability to risk.

Recommendations to Raise the Grade

To raise America’s infrastructure grades over the next four years (at which time the next report will be released), ASCE urges a comprehensive agenda that sustains investment, prioritizes resilience, and advances forward-thinking policies and innovations.

ASCE notes that continued or increased investment is necessary and that reduced federal and state investment levels, or delaying that support, will escalate the costs and risks of an aging infrastructure system.

Additionally, ASCE says that infrastructure investments must be made with consideration of a project’s full life cycle — including the impact of more frequent extreme weather. Thus, the implementation of best practices for resilience when planning across a project’s intended life cycle is critical.

To realize the benefits of recent infrastructure investments, ASCE says that we must advance forward-thinking policies and innovations necessary to build systems today that will provide clean drinking water, ensure safer transportation systems, and produce reliable electricity and broadband over the next 100 years.

Challenges

Existing infrastructure systems continue to age and demands on those systems increase. ASCE recommends that modernization and replacement projects should include prioritizing resilience to withstand extreme weather; however, this may add to upfront costs. Furthermore, infrastructure projects take a long time to develop, and stakeholders may hesitate to pursue resilient designs without assurances that funding levels will be sustained in the future.

How Kleinfelder Can Help

Kleinfelder consistently ranks amongst the leading engineering, design, construction management, construction materials inspection and testing, and environmental professional services firms — and we provide solutions and services in nearly all of the 18 infrastructure categories that make up the overall grade:

1. Aviation (“D+”)
2. Bridges (“C”)
3. Broadband (“C+”)
4. Dams (“D+”)
5. Drinking Water (“C-”)
6. Energy (“D+”)
7. Hazardous Waste (“C”)
8. Inland Waterways (“C-”)
9. Levees (“D+”)
10. Ports (“B”)
11. Public Parks (“C-”)
12. Rail (“B-”)
13. Roads (“D+”)
14. Schools (“D+”)
15. Solid Waste (“C+”)
16. Stormwater (“D”)
17. Transit (“D”)
18. Wastewater (“D+”)

Additionally, we have extensive experience in Climate Resilience & Adaptation.