Well, apparently the Preznit finally made his typical flyover to inspect yet another disaster that has occurred on his watch:
President Bush surveyed Minneapolis’ collapsed highway bridge from the ground and air Saturday, viewing the concrete slabs and twisted steel that once spanned the Mississippi River. He said pledged to help cut the red tape to reconstruct the span.
“Our message to the Twin Cities is we want to get this bridge rebuilt as quick as possible,” Bush said after visiting with rescue workers and people who watched the bridge crumble. “We understand that this is a main artery of life here.”
Well, if it’s anything like the response to Katrina in New Orleans, we all know that bridge may never be rebuilt. And in the meantime, how much more of the US infrastructure is likely to collapse?
From the same article:
Federal transportation officials have announced plans to investigate the agency responsible for inspecting highway bridges. The inspector general for the Transportation Department said the inquiry would focus on the Federal Highway Administration’s inspection program and ways to improve the agency’s oversight of more than 70,000 bridges that have been found structurally deficient.
As some of you know, I’ve been on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina this week. Every year, we drive over the Bonner Bridge that is the only means of land access to Hatteras Island – not only for residents but also for tourists, fishermen, and others who spend more than $300 million a year in the area. Average daily traffic flow over the Bonner Bridge exceeds 5,000 vehicles per day, and that number can double to around 10,000 during summer vacation months. It is the main route for emergency hurricane evacuations, and the main connection to the nearest hospital.
Guess what I read about that Bridge earlier this week, before the Minnesota collapse even happened?
A North Carolina Department of Transportation Bridge Inspection Report from June, 2002, rated the condition of the existing bridge as “poor.” To give an idea of the scope of that rating, on a scale starting at one as its lowest point and going up to 100, the Bonner Bridge rated a four, according to that inspection report.
Additional maintenance and rehabilitation is needed to keep the bridge open until the new bridge is built. A new bridge is necessary because the existing Bonner Bridge is reaching the end of its reasonable service life, and there is continued – and even increasing –demand for convenient daily travel and emergency access across Oregon Inlet…
That report dates back to 2002 (5 years ago) and what plans are in place to maintain the lifeblood of the Hatteras economy if there should be a Bonner Bridge collapse? If you guessed that they are woefully inadequate, you’re right:
The emergency ferry service plan would allow for only 1,300 vehicles per day to move onto and off the island – 650 each way. This would effectively cut the flow of traffic between Hatteras Island and the rest of Dare County by 75 percent and by about 87 percent during the peak season.
Going back to that earlier figure of 70,000 unsafe bridges, how many other communities are on the brink of disaster because our government has seen fit to take all our tax revenues and spend them blowing up Iraq and Afghanistan? Is one of them in your town?
I hope those folks who voted for Bush so they could get a $300 break on their taxes are happy now…