ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: With federal budget deficits on the order of $1 trillion, it is unrealistic to expect government financing to appreciably close the infrastructure funding gap. Although private capital is available to this end, there remains considerable resistance in the U.S. to the use of private investment to finance public infrastructure projects despite its general acceptance in other parts of the world. This is unfortunate, since there is no overriding rationale for exclusive government involvement in infrastructure provision. Properly applied and structured, Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) can offer significant advantages to a traditional approach, particularly in the delivery of large-scale bridge projects, as illustrated in the case of the Confederation Bridge. This paper concludes by discussing the contemplated use of PPP to replace a number of major bridge crossings in New York. While no panacea, public-private partnerships have an important role to play in any comprehensive strategy to renew the nation’s infrastructure.
