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As all of us watch the terrible news in Minnesota unfold, many state governments are starting to look at their own inventory of bridges. Illinois ranks in the middle of bridge condition when compared to other states, according to an AP article in The Daily Southtown, with around 10% of our bridges rated "structurally deficient" - slightly better than the national average of 12%. Yesterday Governor Rod Blagojevich ordered immediate inspections of high-volume bridges and those with designs similar to the one that collapsed Wednesday night, leaving four dead, eight still missing and many more injured.
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said that the bridge in Minnesota had been rated 50 on a scale of 120. In a press conference yesterday, White House spokesman Tony Snow noted that while the federal Department of Transportation sets standards for doing inspections, it is the responsibility of the states to conduct those inspections. He promised a rigorous federal investigation into the circumstances of what he termed "a unique catastrophe." Aside from the Executive branch, the political uproar over this disaster was taken up on Capitol Hill as well, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid calling it a "wake-up call" in terms of the state of our national infrastructure. Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama have said that they want to make sure that Illinois bridges get federal attention as well.
Up north in Minnesota, the reasons and circumstances of this bridge collapse will be under heavy scrutiny. Already a complex investigation is being planned, and federal safety investigators are planning to reassemble the pieces of the bridge, like in an aviation disaster. Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said that the investigation could take a year or more, with the head of the NTSB materials lab arriving in Minneapolis to participate in the investigation.
Image via Artamnesia
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Perhaps I am being a pessimist, but I think that in the next 15-20 years or so, we are going to be reminded of the costs of neglecting our vast infrastructure, whether roads, bridges or sewers. A bill is coming do--these structures need to be kept up, of course--and so far we have showed only slight willingness to pay it, whether at local, state or federal levels. For instance, locally, look at the foot-dragging that's been going on with the freight rail system and its needed improvements, or the locks on the Chicago River.
This may or may not have anything to do with the bridge collapse--no one yet knows the cause--but is related to the issue at hand.
Of course Gov. Rod wants to inspect all the bridges now, it's a hot political issue. Nevermind that he has COMPLETELY decimated the Dept. of Transportation over the past 5 years.
I can't say which they are, but there are several bridges in the City which ranked much lower on the evaluation scale than the I-35W bridge.
America's infrastructure crumbling? Did somebody say a half a trillion dollars spent on somebody's pet project.
"America's infrastructure crumbling? Did somebody say a half a trillion dollars spent on somebody's pet project."
Hmmmmm...that gives me an idea: let's give the contract for all bridge inspections/upgrades/repairs to Halliburton! If we did that, I'm SURE that we could get Federal money for the work.
Wow! Let's blame everthing on the Iraq war!
While I agree the war is a waste of money (and lives), I think the lack of attention to infrustructure needs in the US predates the Bush Administration by many years.
I realize blaming everying on a single event or happening is easier for us all, but the world usually doesn't work that way, boys and girls.
Well anonymous boy or girl it clearly shows a lack of priorities that's an easy comparison to make and timely. I guess it depends on what you think "irresponsible and excessive" spending really is:
July 23, 2007 – 2:17 p.m.
White House Threatens Veto of Transportation-HUD Bill
As expected, the administration issued a veto threat Monday against the fiscal 2008 Transportation-Housing spending bill, denouncing its “irresponsible and excessive” spending level.
The $104 billion bill funding the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments (HR 3074) is $4.1 billion more than Bush requested and $5.9 billion more than enacted in fiscal 2007 (PL 110-5).
Bush has threatened to veto any spending bill that exceeds his fiscal 2008 budget request.
But members of the House Appropriations Transportation-HUD Subcommittee say the cuts the administration wants in this bill would mean underfunding the 2005 surface transportation law , which mandated specific spending levels each year.
7: Very good point.
In the interests of fairness, you also would have to point out such a fact that Blago and current state lawmakers also have failed to pass a big infrastructure works project, as well as talk about the freight line and other problems.
Don't get me wrong--I hate Bush. Yet blaming everything on him is a sign of a juvenile mind.
#8 - I don't think you know how state infrastructure funding is done. The Feds typically put up 80% of the money, and the state puts up the rest. If the feds don't pass transportation bills, the state has nothing to match. To more answer your point, the 5-year IDOT program was released a couple of months ago, and the state funded their portion of everything that was appropriated in the last transportation bill.
Blago is no friend of IDOT, though, that's for sure. IDOT engineers haven't gotten a cost of living raise in the past 3 years, creating a mass exodus.
#9, yes, and SAFETEA passed since Illinois FIRST expired -- so now local agencies (particularly our beloved CTA/RTA) don't have the state matching funds they need to leverage federal funding. From a CTA memo from last year: "Federal funds available under SAFETEA-LU require approximately $220 million in non-federal matching funds for CTA to fully utilize its share of federal formula funds."