However, he suggested that investments in infrastructure overall should be made strategically, in a "holistic" way, rather than placing focus on individual sectors. For example, huge investment in wastewater infrastructure without corresponding investments in the energy sector would yield uneven results, he said.

Natale added that life-cycle costs and resilience also should be factored into project funding decisions.

ASCE's report card is widely used as a barometer for the relative health of the nation's infrastructure. Shortly after ASCE made the results public, Terry O'Sullivan, general president of the Laborers International Union of North America, offered a blunt assessment. "It's time to stop duct-taping this problem," he said. "Chronic underinvestment created the current crisis and continued failure to adequately invest in our nation's infrastructure needs only widens the gap and increases the final cost."

For the first time, the app is available online in phone or tablet versions at iTunes and Google Play.