America just committed $1.2 trillion to fix its infrastructure. We’re still flying blind

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act authorized $1.2 trillion in total spending. It is the largest infrastructure commitment in modern U.S. history. Yet money alone will not solve America’s infrastructure problem. Beneath our feet lie an estimated 30 million miles of water lines, sewer systems, electric cables, and telecom networks that keep daily life running. Most people never think about them until something goes wrong.

And when it does go wrong, the fallout is immediate. The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge disrupted one of the East Coast’s most important shipping routes. Sinkholes at LaGuardia delayed hundreds of flights and revealed how vulnerable critical systems can be. In Hawaii, levee failures left communities exposed to flooding and long-term damage.

But the biggest warning signs are not always headline-grabbing disasters. More often, infrastructure failures develop gradually, hidden beneath day-to-day operations until the economic and social costs become too large to overlook.

In Fayetteville, Georgia, a data center campus consumed nearly 29 million gallons of water over 15 months through two pipe connections the county didn’t know existed. At the same time, local officials were urging residents to conserve water during severe drought conditions. Water pressure dropped, yet there were no early warnings, no clear........

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