I-5 over the Skagit River between Burlington and Mt. Vernon (Seattle: insurance, lawyers)

[TechGromit]

Originally Posted by Bslette

I wouldn't say that nothing has been done. In The Twin Cities, anyways, we have had at least 4 bridges replaced since the 35W collapse.

Here in New Jersey, they replaced the bridges to Ocean City, that was a 400 million dollar project alone. Dozens of overpasses, two larger bridges and several smaller bridges on the Garden State Parkway were also recently replaced for a road widening project. Bridges are being replaced, just not at a rate to keep up with the number of bridges failing.

[Beenhere4ever]

I think this event makes this article more frustrating. Congress forces Pentagon to spend money it doesn't want, need | kgw.com Portland

[MrWillys]

Originally Posted by Beenhere4ever

I think this event makes this article more frustrating. Congress forces Pentagon to spend money it doesn't want, need | kgw.com Portland

Please expound on what this has to do with an oversized loaded truck knocking out the supports for a bridge?

[Beenhere4ever]

Trucks cross that bridge by the hundreds (just like I35 in Minnesota). I guess we'll have to wait for the dust to settle, but the I35 bridge was definitely ready to drop. There are 88000 bridges marked deficient by DOT. But while they are waiting to be fixed, the Pentagon asks to drop billions of projects and outdated equipment, but pork-sensitive congressmen ignore that wish.

Sorry if this requires a PhD, but the Chinese can loan us money to fix bridges just as easily as to keep outrageous expenditures in the Pentagon budget. The money is going to be borrowed, no matter where spent. Lets borrow to fix bridges. BOTH rightwing AND leftwing websites are lobbying against this waste in the Military Industrial Complex.

[MrWillys]

Isn't it just amazing at the speculation that occurs after such a tragic event. All of the sudden, America's entire infrastructure is dilapidated and on the verge of failure, and the political pundits jump on their bandwagons to proclaim why America's spending needs to be revised. HELLO, we had an oversized load hit a bridge damaging overhead supports that caused a collapse.

Comparisons to the I 35 bridge in Minnesota are apples and oranges. They only common element is they're both of steel truss design. In Minnesota the roadway was atop the framework, had a span of 456', and was opened in 1967. It was determined the plate connections were to thin and this design flaw lead to its collapse.

The Skagit river bridge the roadway is on bottom, only spanned 160', and was opened in 1955. It's failure was due to a major impact that damaged major load carrying elements that lead to its collapse.

While all the speculation makes for good story telling it is not positive time spent repairing the problem. What has the Washington state government done. Have they started a cleanup effort? Has a group of engineers started to brainstorm ideas to repair, or place a temporary roadway in place to get the traffic moving? Has the Governor opened up to the people for ideas for a solution, so that a young college student with a great idea might be heard? I don't know, because the media, and the people of this board would rather waste time on speculation that won't solve the problem at hand.

We should spend way less time worrying about fault, lawyers, and lawsuits and work on the problem to get this major American artery back up and operating for the people that need to use it. Keep politics, congress, right, or left in the proper forum and do what's right for all the people for once.

[Blindtom]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

I didn't say high taxes mean faster fix. I meant bridges wouldn't collapse in the first place if taxes are higher because when taxes are low there is no money for regular maintenance.

I do not believe this was a maintenance problem.

[sll3454]

Originally Posted by MrWillys

While all the speculation makes for good story telling it is not positive time spent repairing the problem. What has the Washington state government done. Have they started a cleanup effort? Has a group of engineers started to brainstorm ideas to repair, or place a temporary roadway in place to get the traffic moving? Has the Governor opened up to the people for ideas for a solution, so that a young college student with a great idea might be heard? I don't know, because the media, and the people of this board would rather waste time on speculation that won't solve the problem at hand.

Yesterday the media told us that the government officials are all "monitoring" the situation, and that the governor has promised to get something done soon.

Today we have this update, I-5 bridge old, but not Skagit, which says that no decisions have been made yet about what kind of bridge to build. It also says that one of the bridges being used as an alternate route is structurally deficient (Best Road), and five others are functionally obsolete (which does not mean they are dangerous, just that they were not built for the amount/type of traffic now using them).

I will discover for myself what the traffic is like when I go pick my husband's prescription later today.

[sll3454]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

I didn't say high taxes mean faster fix. I meant bridges wouldn't collapse in the first place if taxes are higher because when taxes are low there is no money for regular maintenance.

Many people who object to higher taxes do so because they believe that the money is not used efficiently or that it is used for things they think are unimportant. When taxes are raised, there is more money available - yes - but much of it will be treated as excess and squandered. Government is not good at saving.

Infrastructure needs to be a true priority, not a talking point.

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by Blindtom

I do not believe this was a maintenance problem.

I don't believe a truck hitting the bridge is able to cause a collapse if the bridge is stable. If it's that easy to break it, then the bridge is garbage.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

This is what happens when citizens want low taxes.

B.S. You are blaming the wrong people.

It is just a massive misallocation of resources. The state wastes too much transportation money on chauffeured limousine lanes (& silly left lane i/e), art, and transit (calculate the $ spent vs. the time saved straightening the BNSF line between Portland and Seattle; massive waste of money). We could be replacing more infrastructure, but the one party that has been in power in this state for over a quarter of a century rather spend the $ elsewhere.

We do not have a lack of revenues problem in Washington.