"There is no reason to believe whatsoever that this is anything other than a failure of our infrastructure."

This is a quote from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg immediately after a steam pipe blew up outside Grand Central Station in New York on 18 July. One person was killed.

The statement was meant to reassure Americans that they were not facing a major threat from international evil – and it appeared to work.

But the “reassuring” quote unearthed another painful truth about the world’s only superpower. The US is blasé about its crumbling infrastructure; it has become an accepted part of American life. But this is about to change…

Pressure is building from ordinary Americans for the government to sort this problem out. If they don’t, over the next few years, the country’s roads, bridges, pipes and electricity systems will buckle under the pressure of everyday life. It’s creaking already – they can’t let it crumble completely.

This means that the US government is going to have to spend money over the next 10 years putting it right. The country will have to spend a lot of money; it has no choice…

This means that some people are going to make a lot of money on the US infrastructure gravy train. You’d be wise to make sure that one of these people was you.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has given much of the nation's infrastructure near-failing grades and has forecast that the nation needed to spend a staggering $1.6 trillion dollars over five years just to bring it up to scratch. That means it needs to spend that amount of money just to stand still.

The US government will have to spend the money eventually, but what will it take before the American people force action? Will it be another bridge collapse like the one in Minneapolis on 1 August? Or possibly more rolling blackouts like those seen in California in 2000 and 2005? How about the Las Vegas Valley running out of water?

The crisis is today

The Las Vegas Valley is facing a major water crisis – and it is happening right now. The lights on The Strip could be extinguished forever if nothing is done. A city can’t survive without water.

Last week, the Southern Nevada Water Authority warned that unless something was done soon, there would be no water for hundreds of thousands of Las Vegas Valley residents in just three years.

The water authority general manager has just asked the board to spend more than $45 million to upgrade water pumps at their local water source, Lake Mead.

Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy told local news:

"The point I was making today is that we have run out of options. We have run out of time to wring our hands about it and try to delay it. If we do that we are putting our own families and our own security in jeopardy."

It is estimated that the valley will be short of 64 million gallons of water a day by 2010. Hopefully, with pressure from people like Pat Mulroy, action will be taken and the money will be spent.

One company I have been researching for readers of my Outstanding Investments newsletter should profit handsomely as the US repairs its infrastructure over the next few years and I am really excited about its prospects – whatever happens to the global economy. P.S. If you enjoyed this article then sign up for Smart Commodities UK. It’s dedicated to searching out the investment trends that could provide our biggest profit opportunities for the next decade…

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