Challenges and innovations in modern sewer construction For sustainable use and maintenance of infrastructure

摘要

In the end, a sustainable use and maintenance of the infrastructure is an intergenerational duty, which is only fulfilled inadequately by the public sector owing to several reasons, as many studies reveal, such as the investigations of the Difu (German Institute of Urban Affairs), the German Association of Towns or the KfW. The consequences of lacking or inadequate investments in maintaining and expanding the infrastructure endanger the sustainability of towns and cities. Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW, German Development Bank) estimates that the investment backlog is currently amounting to € 132 billion in the municipal sector. If we consider a replacement value only for the sewer system, about € 7 to 14 billion would have to be invested in the municipal sewer network annually based on a depreciation of 1 to 2 %. Funds raised in fact amount to approx. €4 billion.