US infrastructure construction costs are among the highest in the world. There appear to be multiple root causes including: extensive legal protections for private property owners, environment reviews and lawsuits, need to work across multiple government boundaries, labor laws, union work rules.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-04-08/why-u-s-i...

http://www.citylab.com/work/2014/04/7-reasons-us-infrastruct...