Lightning-Quick Governmental Reactions And The Broken Bridge Bandwagon

The August 1 collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis has briefly reminded municipalities across the continent that they, too, have crumbling infrastructure. Local officials have reacted to this tragic current event by reassuring their respective constituencies that they will do whatever they can to make sure their bridges are safe. But if that bridge in Minneapolis hadn't collapsed, would America's formerly-unconsidered bridges be getting all of this attention?

I'd guess they probably wouldn't.

From the sampling of subsequent news headlines listed below, it's interesting to see the many instances of government snapping into quick action to assess bridges and assuage the safety concerns of residents. Federal highway officials ordered states to immediately inspect the 700 other U.S. bridges that share a similar design with the collapsed Minneapolis bridge. Governors in many states ordered immediate inspections of their state's bridges. With more than half a million bridges in the U.S., bridge inspectors are sure to be busy in the coming weeks.

Some bridge-related headlines form the past week:

• "US bridge safety review ordered" - BBC - August 3

• "Bridge collapse spotlights America's deferred maintenance" - The Christian Science Monitor - August 3

• "Could bridges collapse in Chicago area?" - Daily Herald (Chicago) - August 3

• "Report: 34 Percent of Major Roads Are in Poor, Mediocre Condition" - ABC - August 2

• "Plenty Georgia bridges need repairs, but state says none unsafe" - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - August 3

• "Where's the bridge money?" - The Enquirer (Cincinnati) - August 4

• "Licking bridge 'critical'" - The Enquirer (Cincinnati) - August 3

• "Ohio River bridges here called safe - The Courier-Journal (Louisville) - August 3

• "Top 10 worst bridges in the Denver metro area" - The Denver Post - August 3

• "Collapse renews concerns over Brazoria County bridge" - Houston Chronicle - August 4

• "1 in 9 state bridges labeled 'structurally deficient'" - The Indianapolis Star - August 3

• "Area has share of questionable bridges" - The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) - August 3

• "No county bridges in critical condition" - The Newark Advocate - August 3

• "Bridge Fatigue Factor Not Estimated" - NPR - August 3

• "Inspectors poring over bridges in state, nation" - The Sacramento Bee - August 4

• "Immediate bridge inspections in California" - The Sacramento Bee - August 3

• "All bridges in Hawaii safe, officials say" - The Honolulu Star Bulletin - August 3

• "Mom calls for a better bridge" - The Portland Tribune - August 3

• "11 Va. bridges similar in age, design to Minnesota bridge" - The Roanoke Times - August 3

• "Budget Ax Won't Touch Bridges" - The Ledger (Florida) - August 3

• "Aging Ontario bridges at risk, engineer says" - The Toronto Star - August 3

• "Inspectors Look More Closely at Nevada Bridges" - KLAS-TV - August 2

• "Group seeks bridge work" - Bangor Daily News - August 9

• "Baldacci reassures motorists Maine bridges safe" - The Boston Globe - August 2

• "Can We Trust Our Bridges?" - Newtown Bee (Connecticut) - August 9

Some interesting quotes and quotations from recent news articles:

"Governor Deval Patrick ordered transportation officials yesterday to reexamine the inspection records for about 40 bridges in Massachusetts similar in design to the Interstate 35 West bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed. He also pledged that he will include money for bridge repair in a five-year state construction plan to be released next week." - from "588 Mass. bridges 'deficient'" - The Boston Globe - August 3

"Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday ordered state inspectors to examine all bridges considered to be critical as Illinois officials sought to assess the safety of its bridge network in the wake of the deadly collapse in Minneapolis." - from "How safe are Illinois' bridges?" - Chicago Tribune - August 2

"In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered inspections yesterday on 13 Indiana bridges with designs similar to the steel-deck truss bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis this week." - from "Kentucky and Indiana begin review of bridges" - The Courier-Journal (Louisville) - August 4

"Gov. Ernie Fletcher ordered the state Transportation Cabinet today to review bridge inspection records immediately and to make additional inspections on 38 Kentucky bridges that have been rated as structurally deficient. - from "Governor orders review of bridge inspections" - The Courier-Journal (Louisville) - August 3

"In the wake of the Minnesota collapse, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Thursday asked the Utah Department of Transportation to review about 200 bridges in Utah that pose dangers or that are heavily used." - from "300 Utah spans may be 'deficient'" - Deseret Morning News - August 3

"The Kansas highway department announced today that it will review inspection reports for bridges with designs similar to the one that collapsed in Minneapolis ... The Kansas Department of Transportation announced its decision less than 24 hours after U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters asked states to inspect all bridges with similar deck truss designs." - from "Kansas to review bridge inspection reports" - The Kansas City Star - August 3

"Kansas Gov. Kathleeen Sebelius has asked for a report on bridge safety in Kansas. The Kansas highway department is working on that report this morning and the governor is expected to make a statement later today." - from "Missouri to inspect bridges similar to collapsed bridge" - The Kansas City Star - August 2

"'While Oregon has been aggressive in making our bridges safe, we must ensure that the tragedy in Minneapolis does not happen here, which is why I have asked the Oregon Department of Transportation to expedite their inspections of similar bridges and identify any areas of improvement so we can develop a plan to address those areas immediately,' Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski said in a statement Friday" - from "Governor tells ODOT to expedite inspection of bridges similar to the one involved in Minnesota collapse - The Portland Tribune - August 2

Judging by the uncharacteristically fast action from the government in response to this terrible accident, maybe what this country's infrastructure needs is a few more disasters. But like the recent steam pipe explosion in New York and the subsequently temporary cry over the nation's failing infrastructure, this event may also end up causing nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction from a government that will quickly shift its focus onto some other less expensive problems.