Tragedy waiting to happen

No one could have predicted which bridge it would be, or how catastrophic the results, but the bridge collapse in Minneapolis was foretold in the 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. The category of bridges got a C, which was the second highest grade (slightly behind solid waste).

Between 2000 and 2003, the percentage of the nation's 590,750 bridges rated structurally deficient or functionally obsolete decreased slightly from 28.5% to 27.1%. However, it will cost $9.4 billion a year for 20 years to eliminate all bridge deficiencies. Long-term underinvestment is compounded by the lack of a Federal transportation program.

As I did then when I blogged about it, this time I couldn't help thinking about Walker Percy's Love in the Ruins.