Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill will boost competitiveness for decades

LOCK AND DAM 25 on the upper Mississippi River is testament to how good American infrastructure can be. Stretching nearly 1,300 feet (400 metres) across the water, the concrete-and-steel structure is a crucial link in the system that connects Midwestern fields to Southern ports and thence to Asian markets. Roughly 60% of America’s corn and soy exports pass through it every year. But it is almost 100 years old, and engineers wage a constant battle to keep it operational. It has the same capacity as when it was built, while boats have grown bigger. “How many highways built in the 1930s still have the same number of lanes now?” asks Andy Schimpf, a manager at the lock.