There is lack of maintenance and repair of existing publicly used infrastructure (incl. roads, state dams, waterways, rail, bridges, public parks and recreation, rail, ports, etc.). The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2025 Infrastructure Report Card gave the United States infrastructure a C Grade and said the investment gap in infrastructure maintenance and need was $3.7 trillion. A quote from the report summarizes the needs of US infrastructure: “For decades, investment at all levels of government and the private sector has failed to keep up with the increasing demands and projects necessary to reach a state of good repair. By incentivizing innovation and maintaining—or in some cases adding—investment, America will sustain recent momentum on our infrastructure systems and ensure they are built for the needs of the 21st century”

“Adding the big picture of sustainability –economic, social, and environmental to professional engineering opportunities will help to change the culture and lift the image of the concrete repair industry as a noble, purposeful one.”

Current interest in choosing a career in concrete repair and protection industry is very low, mostly because of low information about the field. Very few schools have courses that introduce or prepare the student for the industry. Where courses and interested professors exist, students make their way into the industry with excitement and passion, but their education in concrete repair happens in practice rather than in school. Young engineers frequently get jobs where they are assigned to perform structural inspections of concrete bridges, buildings, or parking garages. They must be mentored on the job to learn that, in real life, concrete is exposed to service conditions that trigger deterioration mechanisms, resulting in corroded rebar, delamination, and spalling that can create safety hazards and loss of load carrying capacity. Teaching our future engineers while they are in school about concrete’s behavior in service would prepare them better to enter their careers in practice. Adding the big picture of sustainability—economic, social, and environmental—to professional engineering opportunities will help to change the culture and lift the image of the concrete repair industry as a noble, purposeful one.