Identifying pathways to pay for critical infrastructure projects and stretching those public and private investments as far as possible was a key focus of the first National Infrastructure Finance and Construction Summit held Nov. 20-21 in Reston, Va. 

The event, sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers, aimed to convene leaders from federal and state agencies, financial investment firms, engineering and construction companies and advocacy groups–entities that don’t often work closely together, said Maria Lehman, ASCE president emeritus and infrastructure lead at consultant GHD. "We really need to look at how we move forward to get the financial community and the infrastructure community working together," she said.