The near destruction of New Orleans in 2005 — not by Hurricane Katrina but by the inattention to the city’s levees — remains a chilling lesson about what happens when infrastructure needs are ignored.

Report after report confirms that our nation is home to a multitude of crumbling bridges, roads, water systems and other critical infrastructure. In Texas, about 22 percent of our bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Our state’s drinking-water infrastructure will require at least $28 billion in improvements over the next 20 years, from the construction of new reservoirs to the replacement of corroded pipes.

That’s just the beginning. One out of three Texas roads is in poor or mediocre condition, and nearly half of the state’s major urban highways are intolerably congested. Multiply similar problems by 50 states, and the country faces a $2 trillion-and-growing infrastructure to-do list.

Thankfully, Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas has taken a big step in leadership on this issue, crossing party lines to support Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Mark Warner of Virginia in proposing a national infrastructure bank. It’s a bold step to help rebuild America in a year when a Republican-led Congressis aggressively targeting new spending.

The idea — and the funding plan behind it — is a good one. The federal government can’t do all the rebuilding; neither can private industry. But together they can make a critical down payment on the nation’s future. Under the proposal, the government would “seed” the bank with a $10 billion initial investment from the treasury. The money would be used to attract private investors who would make available billions more for massive big-ticket construction projects, including toll roads and water systems. The “seed bank” money would be loans, so the work would focus on projects that generate cash. The bank would be prohibited from financing more than 50 percent, and the General Accounting Office and Congress would keep tabs on the operation.

The U.S. spends less than 2 percent of GDP on infrastructure, compared with China, which pumps about 9 percent annually into the country’s backbone. Even worse, the U.S. spends 40 percent less than it needs to every year to improve 50- to 100-year-old water pipes, roads and other building blocks of our country.

The United States must reverse its inattentiveness or risk seriously compromising safety. Additionally, treating infrastructure improvements as crucial investments — not just expenses — will pay off in new jobs and a more competitive nation.

This newspaper applauds Hutchison for supporting the plan and urges her to work in her final term to persuade her Republican colleagues to see the wisdom in the bank idea. Even in tight budget times, this would be money well spent on America’s future — and a worthy obligation that a true fiscal conservative would not kick down the road.