Now they're spreading the fear of bridges collapsing nationwide.

[Deja Q]

:crazy:

600,000 bridges, surveys show 50% of the bridges have problems, blah blah blah.

Well, they know it. They can fund it. Either do it or don't, just stop saying "We're falling behind". Be a part of the solution.

And don't say "privatize". Anyone who understands business knows that is not a fair solution. Quite the contrary; they'd pocket the change and put cut corners when possible - which would mean even bigger catastrophes.

[whistle]

1. Another cost of Bush's war...infrastucture falling apart in America

[Deja Q]

3. Yup - FOX 9 news just said it all comes from federal grants.

A FOX affiliate just put the blame on the federal government.

[LTR]

30. 35W is an interstate highway bridge

These are top priority as far as government-funded roads go. The interstate highway system was designed initially for federal evacuations.

[bdamomma]

10. exactly, sending all that money somewhere else instead of using

it here.

[MonkeyFunk]

13. it's hard to fault bush for this

Governments at every level have underfunded infrastructure for decades.

[Zensea]

15. The trend has accelerated under Bush I think however

This stuff really started big time with Reagan, Bush is adding to Reagan's "legacy."

[MonkeyFunk]

17. I have to disagree

this problem goes back far longer than Reagan.

It's always difficult to convince taxpayers to spend money on non-urgent problems.

I remember NYC struggling with this problem in the 1970s. And most infrastructure isn't funded by the feds.

[Zensea]

24. That doesn't contradict what I wrote

even if you are couching it in such terms.
The fact that something goes back further than Reagan doesn't mean that it didn't start big time with Reagan.

Plus you're only going back to a few years or so before Reagan, at most a decade if you're talking about the 70s.

Although I am thinking of the social infrastructure more than physical infrastructure, the defunding of mental health, the kinds of things that put a lot of people on the street -- .

Whether most infrastructure is funded by the feds or not is not exactly the problem.
It's part of a larger problem of the feds not funding various programs which then squeezes the states regarding what they can fund themselves, infrastructure being one of the things squeezed.

[Nevernose]

26. Maybe that depends on where you're at, or what you call "infrastructure"

Maybe that depends on where you're at, or what you call "infrastructure." I mean, if you're discussing power lines or water mains, then that's private, as are most roads. But I would be truly surprised if their were a single bridge in my entire county -- the fastest growing in the nation -- that wasn't a federal project.

That's small point, though. The problem ultimately goes back to convincing taxpayers to spend money on non-urgent problems, and also probably goes back to Babylonian times.

[tabasco]

38. Riiiiight. That trillion wasted in Iraq has no effect at all.

You sure you're at the right site?

[whistle]

52. A trillion and a half U.S. taxpayer dollars wasted in Bush's War

...I think has relvance on almost all DU topics in one way or another and will most certainly impact our economic condition for several generations to come :shrug:

[Bluebear]

54. Word.

[TankLV]

40. In some ways you're correct - it's the fault of REPUKES...

[TankLV]

39. Unfortunately - it's a FACT...

All those damned TAXES afterall went for taking care of COMMONLY HELD COMMUNITY ASSETS...

Can't have that now, can we - and yes it is ALL the REPUKES fault...

[hobbit709]

2. Civil engineers have been saying the infrastructure is failing

for years now. Bridges, roads, water systems, pipelines, rails are all getting old without proper upkeep.

[Deja Q]

4. On the plus side, that means jobs.

[Mira]

8. Halliburton to the rescue, no bids needed N/T

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. Full employment for engineers

We might as well spend it on ourselves, ya know?

[kikiek]

28. They'll try to import them..or find a way to send our bridges out to be assembled somewhere else!

[dysfunctional press]

33. even the ones who were working on/overseeing this project??

:shrug:

[Cobalt Violet]

43. If privatized , they won't be jobs Americans will do.

At least not for next to nothing.

[librechik]

5. Good! Maybe we'll get something fixed for once before it kills people!

i wish

[lonestarnot]

6. What a terrorist with a vibrator for every bridge? Wow that's alot of vibrators.

[tularetom]

7. Those vibrators could be put to better use

Billo could use a couple of them himself.

[lonestarnot]

11. I thought he was into falafels

[tularetom]

19. From the Andrea Mackris sexual harassment transcript

"81. During the course of Defendant Bill O'Reilly's sexual rant, it became clear that he was using a vibrator upon himself, and that he ejaculated, Plaintiff was repulsed."

[lonestarnot]

50. eeeee post a warning!

That visual is a puker.

[karlrschneider]

12. It's not hyperbole. A large percentage of our bridges ARE in dangerous disrepair.

And the roads too. But it's all okay...in Tulsa just up the road from me they're planning to spend $100M to 'beautify' the river...and you can't drive on the streets without risking serious suspension damage to your car.
:grr:

[liberal N proud]

14. Not to be an alarmist, but next time you drive under a bridge look up

Look at the superstructure of these bridges. Missing concrete, steel rusted through and broken braces.
Bridges have been neglected as highway budgets have been slashed. We can build a hell of a bomb but can't keep our road safe from them selves.

Yes our infrastructure has been neglected and we will see more of this in years to come if the direction is not altered with regard to funding for these things.

This is the republicans less government at work!

[Cobalt Violet]

45. "This is the republicans less government at work!"

I hope people beside you and me and most of DU can see the glaring connection. I think repukes will use this as a call for more privatization. Surely they will try to use this to attempt to loot the people and get rich over the death of our infrastructure.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Well, I can't endorse fear mongering.

But I'm glad the infrastructure problem is getting attention.

[C_U_L8R]

18. Thank the republicans

those cheap bastards have betrayed our country
for letting our infrastructure rot.
As far as I'm concerned, they can shove their ICBMs up their bums.

[Me.]

20. Who?

Built the bridge in the first place?

[TahitiNut]

21. So, which one is next? The Golden Gate? The Mackinaw Bridge? The Verrazano-Narrows?

The Rainbow Bridge? The Ambassador Bridge? (I think they're all older than the 35W bridge.)

:eyes: :scared: :crazy:

[liberal N proud]

27. Age has nothing to do with it. Neglect will play a role in these collapses

These bridges have been neglected because of budget cuts.

[TankLV]

41. The Rainbow and Peace Bridges have been constantly and continually repaired...

And the Grand Island Bridges were recently upgraded not too long ago to the consternation of commuters who had to endure the long waits while the work was being done.

They do it like clockwork every five to ten years or so...or as in the case of painting - once they get to the other side, they just start back at the beginning and do it all over again...

[smirkymonkey]

42. Most of the bridges spanning the East River from Manhattan to

Brooklyn were built around the turn of the century (20th). I would say they were probably not designed to handle the kind of traffic they are getting in this day and age.

On the other hand, they were built in an era when things were built to last and it wasn't all about cutting corners to make a quick buck. Who knows? :shrug:

[Old and In the Way]

22. Guns or Buttresses......nt

[Tesha]

48. Nice turn of a phrase! (NT)

[ozone_man]

23. Interest on our national debt

prevents investment and rebuilding infrastructure. This was our choice, to have a war in Iraq that the Democrats like Hillary Clinton and John Edwards voted for with our money. Our national debt is $9 trillion and climbing as soon as the debt ceiling is raised. Infrastructure has a finite lifetime and these events will be more common place in the future I'm afraid.

[SoCalDem]

25. This is actually a REAL issue..

Bridges are in terrible condition all over the place. They cost a LOT to fix/replace, and voters continually vote down additional taxes to take care of them.. The feds routinely use transportation money as ransom to states..and can withhold it from time to time..

[Bluebear]

55. Agree 100%

[TreasonousBastard]

29. And it will be frogotten soon enough, unless...

they find a way to link it to terrorism and spend more money on bullshit "security."

When the I-95 bridge in Connecticut collapsed there was all hell to pay-- but who remembers it now?

Who even remembers that collapse in the Big Dig not that long ago?

[beyurslf]

32. A bridge in OK collapsed a few years ago too.

I think there was a bus on it even (greyhound maybe?).

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. frame the damn issue

yes that many bridges are in trouble, due to the republican revolution. Pretty simple really, but you need to frame it. It is not fear, but a failure to fund the commons.

Simple

[NuttyFluffers]

34. yup. it's part of what did New Orleans in, failure to fund the dikes, etc.

the aftermath emergency response was just cruel criminality atop it.

Republicans hate gov't therefore they are incapable of making it work. They fail to fund the commons, so they failed to protect these people from preventable death.

you're right, it's very simple.

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. But it is only simple if people are willing to drive this point

taxes are your ticket into civilized society, period

it is PATRIOTIC to pay taxes

[NuttyFluffers]

37. taxes = civilization = national health. yup patriotic to pay taxes. n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

35. I"m not jumping to conclusions about the state of my state's budget for bridge repair

It's woefully inadequate.

Pittsburgh is a good example. We have some very high bridges here with extremely old, crumbling, rusty rebar visable as you cross under and look up through the crumbling concrete (that would be concrete that has netting under it, so it doesn't hit the cars below before it's restored.

The beast is being drained, and all the shit (or lack of it) seems to flow downward so that our state (anyway) picks and chooses which bridges are fixed first. Yes, it's bad management, but it's also nation-wide slow death that is very real.

[Bravo Zulu]

44. I was lucky

The bridge fell down a few minutes before I got to it!

Road salt, hits from trucks likely led to bridge collapse
I-70 span last inspected 4 months ago; it was rated 'deficient'
Thursday, December 29, 2005


Forty-five years of corrosive road salt draining onto one side of an overpass and a history of trucks hitting its underside likely caused a 53-foot-long, 60-ton concrete beam to come crashing onto Interstate 70 in Washington County Tuesday evening.






http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05363/629440.stm

[radfringe]

46. when do the bushies blame it on Clinton? n/t

[tsuki]

47. After they finish blaming God. nt

[annabanana]

49. Damn socialist roads & bridges..

and don't get me started on the tunnels.

[spinbaby]

51. We'd better hope another bridge doesn't collapse today

If another bridge collapses, it'll be sure evidence of terrorism and, by Bush logic, a reason to bomb Iran.

[shance]

53. People heard blasts at the bridges. Why is that not being covered?

n/t