Is there hope on the horizon for the North American infrastructure deficit?

Maybe so, according to the results of the 15th Annual Underground Construction Municipal Sewer & Water Survey, an annual poll of U.S. municipalities and infrastructure owners.

The report highlights a slight, but growing hope among infrastructure owners that the budget constraints of the last several years will be eased slightly in 2012, allowing for investment in new systems, as well as maintenance and replacement of existing systems.

However, at the same time, survey respondents also said that recession-based cutbacks have taken a severe toll on underground infrastructure, with many municipalities facing imminent infrastructure failure.

One of the overarching themes of the report is that dollars invested in underground infrastructure matter more, and must go further, than ever before. Owners also reported a desire to see consulting engineers have a better understanding of new technology and for those in the field to “better understand the long-term maintenance of proposed improvements.”

All of this feedback gives us at Hamilton Kent reason for optimism, as all of our products are both innovative in nature and high quality in design and manufacture. Our patented LifeSpan® locking rubber manhole frame and lid system is designed to limit inflow and infiltration in order to reduce unnecessary load on water treatment plants, thus reducing energy usage and carbon footprints.

Additionally, both our Lifespan System® and our Tylox® gaskets and connectors are designed and manufactured for durability, effectively reducing maintenance and replacement costs. Some of our products may have a greater upfront cost than our competitors’, but we can show you that, over time, the ROI on Hamilton Kent products works out to be a much better value.

Finally, we’ve made great efforts in the past year to create a large library of resources on our website to explain how our products work, how they are made and the ways in which they can enhance your underground infrastructure systems.

Check out our videos, product data sheets, specifications and more. If you have any suggestions of new content you’d like to see, we’d be pleased to hear them.

To read the entire survey article, click here.

By Alan Siebenthaler, Marketing/Territory Mgr. for Hamilton Kent