America's Infrastructure: Crumbling?
Thursday August 2, 2007
We've had two bridges collapse (MN, CA). A burst underground steam pipe (NY). And we know that city water supply pipes are in dire need of replacement. And then there are the roads.
That $5 billion per month (that we don't have - it's a credit card war) we are spending in Iraq would be better spent at home.
See more from Popular Mechanics: Bridge Collapse Reveals Brittle America:
[I]nvestigators will likely find that two factors contributed to its failure: age and heavy use...
According to a report card released in 2005 by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 160,570 bridges, or just over one-quarter of the nation’s 590,750-bridge inventory, were rated structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The nation’s bridges are being called upon to serve a population that has grown from 200 million to over 300 million since the time the first vehicles rolled across the I-35W bridge. Predictably that has translated into lots more cars. American commuters now spend 3.5 billion hours a year stuck in traffic, at a cost to the economy of $63.2 billion a year...
Americans have been squandering the infrastructure legacy bequeathed to us by earlier generations... The blind eye that taxpayers and our elected officials have been turning to the imperative of maintaining and upgrading the critical foundations that underpin our lives is irrational and reckless.
Comments
I see Ms Gill waited no time at all to blame Bush and the war for failures in our infrastructure? Shameful that Ms Gill would exploit a tragedy like this to push her own political agenda.
Will the Hate Mongering ever end? I don’t think so as long as angry hateful people like Ms Gill continue to dominate the media.
C
The Minnesota bridge is part of the Interstate Highway system and is maintained partially with federal funds. However, the funding level for maintenance of the Interstate system was last set by the Transportation Equity Act of 1998, well before the start of the Iraq war.
The bridge in California was (is) under construction, still months from opening.
It is doubtful that federal funds would ever be directed to the maintenance of a New York City steam tunnel.
Please show me where I have accused the Bush Administration of ANYTHING in this post.
I have repeated something I have said many times before — if we are going to bury ourselves in debt, we should be investing in our OWN infrastructure.
I say a Pox on All Their Houses, to Congress and the White House.
Hi, Robert — as I just said to Chuck, I am lamenting our use of government credit to spend $$$ overseas rather than domestically.
If the Feds were coughing up more money for federal infrastructure, the states might have money for state/city infrastructure. Maybe.
I don’t believe I suggested that the feds were responsible for any of these accidents.
As Robert pointed out, you used totally unrelated incidents to support your accusation that if there was no war there would be more money for building bridges.
Your argument is unsupportable on many levels. To suggest that if not for the war Congress would appropriate more money for infrastructure just flies in the face of history and reality. You know this. You just used this tragedy to take another shot at the administration. It’s a vile, disgusting and hateful approach you lefties are using and it’s going to bite you in the butt come election time.
Spin your little blog any way you want, the bottom line here is that you’ve turned a blog that is supposed to be about “all” politics to a hate mongering site to bring down conservatives and further you own political agenda. It’s disgusting and I plan on pointing it out every time you post one of these hate-filled blogs.
C
Persons concerned about the state of the nations total infrastructure, including bridges, should consider reading and possibly supporting passage of the National Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2007 (S. 775), co-authored by Senators Thomas Carper (D-DE) and George Voinovich (R-OH).
Deterioration of the infrastructure is less a problem of adequacy of state and federal funding than one of diligent oversight and willingness on the part of state highway officials to both spend the money they get and to tell the public, “Sorry, but the Time-Saving Commute Bridge will be closed for a year.”
Chuck, you typed:
NO. I did NOT say that:
Let me rephrase it, since you don’t understand that sentence: if we are going to borrow money that we don’t have — that money should go to our own infrastructure, not foreign entanglements.
Chuck, you typed:
(1) I challenge you to show one instance of “hate mongering” that came from MY keyboard.
(2) Pay-as-you go — avoiding foreign entanglements — minimizing debt — are historical CONSERVATIVE values.
Robert, I agree with you that there is a lack of political will to raise $ to invest in roads, bridges, etc.
I disagree that it is the fault of state transportation officials. As a general statement, those folks have no purse string powers (that’s relegated to the state legislatures or the congress, with prodding from the executive).
I also disagree about the role of the feds. Just look at the Mex-Tex-Canadian corridor (that I really need to write about).
USP,
Once again that reading comprehension disability rears it’s ugly head.
USP wrote:
“We’ve had two bridges collapse (MN, CA). A burst underground steam pipe (NY). And we know that city water supply pipes are in dire need of replacement. And then there are the roads”
Robert explained to you why these examples aren’t good examples for your little hate speech against the war and the admininstration. Spin all you want, your goal with this thread was to put down the war and the people who wage it, thereby exploiting the disaster du jour.
You’re so engrossed in your hatred of the right that no one could demonstrate to you how your blog is a hate mongering site simply because you believe you are normal and mainstream. It’s an idea, a philosophy that exudes from your writings.
Why else would you even start this blog? Why else would you choose to use the war as the reason we don’t invest in the infrastructure? You’re a hater Ms Gill. And you use this site to launch your hate.
C
ps You also misinterpreted Mr. Roberts’ comments. What a surprise! Carry on with the agenda ms gill.
Mex-Tex-Canadian corridor … okay that one’s a “What were they smoking?” idea. I’ve been meaning to write about it, too. But I’m still trying to make myself believe it.
This is why I do not attach any relevance to blogs (or comments); childish bickering and “my agenda is better than your agenda” mentality. Don’t bother responding, I am outta here.
Chuck,
I think your comments are dead on. The url ‘about.com’ implies to me that it should be a source of information, not a partisan slant.
Thanks son
Seriously though you are right. It really should be “about” all politics, left and right. But, when you look at the body of blogs Ms Gill has posted, it’s all directed towards bringing shame upon the right.
There are so many other things she could be blogging. Unfairness doctrine, Presidential candidate politics, Obama’s most recent blunders, Democrats not attending the Fox debate, our do-nothing congress/senate and energy issues. Don’t hold your breath.
C
How States Under-Fund Bridge Safety
http://www.transact.org/library/decoder/Bridge-Decoder.pdf
“Overall, the states have spent only 73 percent of the bridge funding allocated by Congress over the last decade…”