Some of the countries with the best skills and resources for creating infrastructure have lost much of their capability in recent years, according to a survey of infrastructure professionals.

The survey was conducted via a questionnaire and scoring system compiled by CG/LA Infrastructure, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant.

Norman Anderson, the company’s president, discussed the fall-off during one of many presentations during World Risk Day, the second in an annual a series of webinars held May 14. Active Risk, a leading provider of risk management software based in Herdon, Va., was the founding supporter of World Risk Day.

The survey results were disclosed as part of a session called The Top 100 Global Strategic Infrastructure Projects.

The webinar never did identify those 100 projects, although Anderson did say that among them were ones that “escape political gravity” and are “game-changing.” One example, he said, is the Rio-Sao Paulo High-Speed Rail project valued at $9 billion.

During the commodity boom of recent years, the list of projects had been dominated by ports and logistic. “Not this year,” said Anderson.

Another result that stood out is that water and wastewater projects remain, in Anderson’s words, “the poor stepchild,” of the infrastructure market. Sadly, subpar water and wastewater infrastructure pose, according to Anderson, “a risk to public health” that also affects “how people think about their country, and what its image is.”

Anderson’s discussion did cover much interesting territory on the capacity of countries to produce successful infrastructure projects.

The stark decline in some countries, as assessed by infrastructure professionals, showed up in CG/LA’s country infrastructure and capacity ranking. Some were notable for their dramatic speed.

For example, Chile in 2013 achieved a score of 44.8, where 56 was a passing score. In 2010, Chile scored was 59.3.