bridge collapse
 

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...ash-river?lite


'The 1,112-foot steel truss bridge, built in 1955, was described by the Washington State Department of Transportation, after an inspection in August 2010, as "somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is."'


everyone remembers the bridge collapse a few years ago in minnesota. there are thousands of bridges and overpasses in this country needing replacing, that are in sorry shape-and are carrying a lot more traffic than what they were intended to carry.
infrastructure should be a major focus, and should have been a huge part of the many 'stimulus' packages passed.

Totally agree, but it's going to take a nation accepting that our current low tax burden is not sustainable, and a major shift in priorities, likely from Defense to infrastructure.

To which I say, yeah, fat chance THAT ever happens. Too bad; it would create a lot of work for people.

that's what i told my husband. shave a 1/4th off defenses budget, and put it towards this. he said are you nuts? (he likes to get my cranked up). i said yeah, we want all these toys and everything else, but don't touch my taxes. :rolleyes:

If by LAW our taxes were raised 25% while we were at war in order to fund the war, how many decade long engagements would we enter in?

Would have been nice if the semi (you know the thing that likely caused the bridge collapse) didn't hit the bridge's span. But why let the facts get in the way?

:tro:


:rolleyes:

Or if we re-instituted the draft.

http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-brid...145103945.html



Thousands of bridges around the U.S. may be one freak accident or mistake away from collapse, even if the spans are deemed structurally sound.

The crossings are kept standing by engineering design, not supported with brute strength or redundant protections like their more modern counterparts. Bridge regulators call the more risky spans "fracture critical," meaning that if a single, vital component of the bridge is compromised, it can crumple.

Those vulnerable crossing carry millions of drivers every day. In Boston, a six-lane highway 1A near Logan airport includes a "fracture critical" bridge over Bennington Street. In northern Chicago, an I-90 pass that goes over Ashland Avenue is in the same category. An I-880 bridge over 5th Avenue in Oakland, Calif., is also on the list.

Also in that category is the Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River north of Seattle, which collapsed into the water days ago after officials say an oversized truck load clipped the steel truss.