infrastructure

The American Society of Civil Engineers issued gave New York’s infrastructure and gave an overall grade of C- on its 2015 report card. Syracuse officials hope infrastructure funding will come soon from the state and federal governments.

The lowest grade on New York’s report card was a D- for roads and the group notes that 45 percent of Syracuse’s roads are in poor or mediocre condition. On average, Syracuse drivers will have to spend $477 every year on extra vehicle operating costs because of the rough roads. Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner says she has been told there is state money that will be available to help fund road improvements.

At 63 years old, Mt. Morris Dam isn’t getting any younger. And for a piece of infrastructure that was only built to last 50 years, the dam has surpassed its life expectancy.

Situated deep in the Genesee River gorge, the picturesque structure is made up of over 750,000 cubic yards of concrete. Its one and only job is to control river flows that may flood and cause property damage to Rochester and surrounding cities.

Since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) built it in 1952, the dam has prevented over $2 billion worth of flood damages. The most recent event happened just a few weeks ago.

“We had about a 100-feet-deep lake back behind the dam. It was caused from snow melt and spring rains on top of that, and we’ve since successfully been able to pass that water downstream and provide ourselves with full storage capacity once again,” says Steve Winslow, the manager of Mt. Morris Dam.

(Video after the jump.)

A sharply divided city argues over whether to keep a major transit link running through downtown, or to route it around the outskirts of town.

It’s nearly the same debate going on today, but this was in the 1920s. Then, Syracuse was arguing over whether to build an elevated rail corridor through downtown, as Dennis Connors, curator of the Onondaga Historical Association explains.