Infrastructure Report Card

About

On December 8, 2014 the River Falls City Council adopted the City's first strategic plan. One of the goals identified in the strategic plan is considering future generations, under the theme of sustainability. Monitoring the City's infrastructure condition is one of this goal's strategic initiatives. In order to measure the condition of the City's infrastructure, an Infrastructure Report Card was developed.

Establishing a composite index rating score and mapping the City's infrastructure will help to streamline the planning for future projects. The goal is for the City to be able to determine problem areas and to forecast what infrastructure needs are most significant. The Infrastructure Report Card is a valuable tool to guide capital planning for the City. The infrastructure components that are included in the Infrastructure Report Card include:

  • Alleys
  • Bridges
  • Paved Trails
  • Public Parking Lots
  • Stormwater Inlets and Manholes
  • Streets
  • Street Lighting
  • Street Signs
  • Water Main - Breaks
  • Water Main - Pipe Type
  • Water Wells
  • Booster Stations
  • Water Quality
  • Capacity of Local Facilities
  • Fire Hydrants

Grading

The different infrastructure components are evaluated based on their unique grading system. The City's pavement management program, including paved trails, public parking lots, alleys and streets, is evaluated during the City's annual street maintenance using the Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) system. The City's bridges are evaluated every two years and given a Sufficiency Rating in accordance with the national standards developed by the Federal Highway Administration. Stormwater inlets and manholes are inspected and rated using the Engineering Department's 1 through 5 grading system. The Infrastructure Report Card takes each of the unique grading systems and converts them into an A through F letter grade.

Based on all of the ratings, the overall grade for the City's infrastructure corresponds to a B- grade.

Future Ratings

The Infrastructure Report Card is a work in progress and reflects the efforts completed by the City to date. Additional infrastructure assessments will be included and the current assessments refined as that information becomes available.