Bridge Collapse

[xoxoxoBruce]

tw's a dick... tw's condecending... tw's arrogant... which is unfortunate because quite often tw's right. As grating as he can be, try to understand what he writes, which often takes a bit of interpretation, I know... then tell him to fuck off.

In 2005, the federal government rated the Minnesota bridge as "structurally deficient," a status that does not require that a bridge be closed or replaced.

"We know that the bridge was inspected in 2005 and 2006 by state inspectors, and while there was some stress and surface concerns noted, they didn't identify a need for the bridge to be replaced," said Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

More than 73,000 bridges were rated as "structurally deficient" in 2006, while an additional 80,000 were considered "functionally obsolete," according to federal transportation statistics.

The status does not mean a bridge is unsafe to use, Transportation Secretary Peters said at a news conference in Minneapolis just before noon. Peters also said that the federal government would immediately offer $5 million to the recovery effort and would supplant those funds as necessary.

Dan Dorgan, the director of bridges for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, laid out some of the structure's history that earned the bridge its "structurally deficient" status, citing reports over the last 20 years that had found bearing and corrosion problems, and fatigue cracks that were repaired in the early 1990s. Despite the federal designation, which a federal highway transportation official described as "programmatic," the bridge was still deemed fit for travel, Dorgan said.

One thing you can be sure of, Griff's trillion dollars could have rebuilt a lot of aging shit.

"A bridge in America shouldn't just fall down," Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said at the news conference. She added that the collapse is a reminder that the nation's infrastructure needs to become a funding priority.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Minnesota bridge tragedy is a wake-up call on America's deteriorating infrastructure. "Since 9/11, we have taken our eye off the ball," said Reid, suggesting that infrastructure spending has taken a back seat to spending on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Of course "top management" is making excuses already.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said this morning that while the deficiency status may not mean a bridge needs to be replaced, it is up to an individual state to deal with aging infrastructure.

"This doesn't mean there was a risk of failure, but if an inspection report identifies deficiencies, the state is responsible for taking corrective actions," Snow said.

Personally, I suspect the automatic deicing system they installed a few years ago. If, as I suspect, it uses that liquid salt crap they are squirting on the interstates now, it probably ate the rebar inside the concrete. We won't know for a year, if ever.