(no subject)

[johnny9fingers]

More stuff on bridges, and I quote from todays Guardian (my highlighting):

The collapse highlights again the lack of investment by the world's superpower in much of its infrastructure, including roads, bridges, dams and, in the case of New Orleans, the levee system.

The American Society of Civil Engineers believes more than 70,000 bridges across America are rated structurally deficient, the same grading as the one that collapsed in Minneapolis. Engineers estimate repairing them all would take at least a generation and cost more than $188 bn.

Now, how happy are you all about that?

Comments

There are others...

[ankh156.livejournal.com]

http://girlinshortshorts.blogspot.com/2007/08/oink-oink-and-americas-bridges-are.html

I've syndicated Becky's blog into my friends list (RSS feed).

She's gay, funny, very savvy, and I read her several times a day (depending on how often she posts).

Hope you're having a good day.

(Just stumbled upon an L100 and Leslie 760 over in Vosges - near the german border - for €300. I have the right to dream don't I ? Of course I was too late !)

Shall be keeping closely in touch and (foreseeably) bursting rudely into your field of vision.

Re: There are others...

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Whenever, you are always welcome. There are a few LJers that I would be happy to stay as guests. You're near the top of the list, but Madame would be first.

[winterlion.livejournal.com]

In Canada - apparently the key problems are that bridges are co-owned by city, provincially and federally. There exists many boundary disputes when support comes to mind (Quebec in specific). Also apparently in British Columbia this is kept well. I've seen support and maintenance done to most bridges I've crossed regularly - and I travel a lot.
(BC Highways says that it's good too)

Across the rest of Canada - it varies. We've got areas with problems too. It's undergoing a new national review, adding on to the Quebec review after the bridge crash there. (it was reported but the bridge in question was never serviced)

I suspect it's even worse in the US where a lot of maintenance is dependant on local financial support - which has been continually falling for years.
People expect them to be built - then left alone until ... forever? Most bridges however were built with a 50 year lifespan and more recent ones with a 75-year life. *shrug*

[tripinthehead33.livejournal.com]

It's not only bridges. I was walking to work, and to explain this, the road is called "Ridge Road". This is due to the fact this road is the former southern border for Lake Ontario. When the glaciers receded way back when, it changed the landscape, digging up the ground, history stuff, yada yada. The road collapsed due to the slope and rainfall over the past however long there has been a road there. The water going down this long hill towards the lake 5 miles north eroded the soil beneath the road. Not surprising, as the dropoff is probably close to 150-200 feet, at least. The part north if it being formerly underwater.

I ended up watching construction crews attempt to do some weird sort of lift and stuff procedure to maintain the road integrity and then fill dirt and gravel in under it. To be brutally honest, I doubt that is safe at all for more than a few years. Yet, the road carries probably 40% of the daily East-West travel inside this town of over 30,000 people. Not to mention the folks that come from out of town to shop at all of the places along this street. Nearly all of the businesses in the town ARE on or off this street as well. It is our main street. With enough rain and neglect, it may be possible the foundations for building could come apart and tumble down this hill.