The country is behind on infrastructure

[Lady Alyx]

Why Did the Bridge Fall?

Time Article

It may take several days to figure out how many people died in Wednesday's collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis — the official toll has hit five, but nobody expects it to stay there. Between 20 and 30 people are still missing, and while some of them may be lying in hospitals, unconscious and unidentified, plenty of cars are still submerged in the Mississippi River. Anyone trapped inside — and there are such people — is no longer alive. So recovery crews are picking their way carefully around the twisted steel and broken concrete that could shift without warning in the muddy current.

Investigators, meanwhile, from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and from a private firm of forensic engineers hired by the state of Minnesota, have already arrived to begin trying to figure out what happened. NTSB chairman Mark Rosenker told reporters Thursday evening that the agency plans to use a special risk-analysis software program that will allow investigators to study each functional element of the Minneapolis span. According to Rosenker, the program "can take away every element of the bridge in a computer model, until it falls down." The hope is that the virtual facsimile will help illuminate which component ultimately failed.

That might not be easy. Sometimes a bridge collapses for glaringly obvious reasons — being whacked by a barge, for example. That's what knocked down Florida's Sunshine Skyway bridge in 1980, killing 35 people, and the I-40 bridge near Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, in 2002, killing 14, and a causeway in Louisiana in 1964, killing 14.

But in other cases — the Mianus River Bridge in Connecticut (three dead in 1983) or the Silver Bridge, spanning the Ohio River between Ohio and West Virginia (46 dead in 1967) — the cause is far more subtle. The former was triggered by metal fatigue in a single steel pin: when it finally failed, the loss of support transferred excess stress on other parts, which couldn't handle it, failing in turn. The latter was finally traced, again, to a single piece of metal, which had been forged with a tiny, unnoticed crack that weakened further with corrosion.

Corrosion may have played a role here as well: the Minneapolis bridge — what's known as a deck steel truss bridge — was a concrete roadway supported by gridwork of steel. "When you use both concrete and steel like this," says William Miller, an expert on bridge engineering at Temple University in Philadelphia, "there can be chemical reactions going on where these two very different substances meet. This is especially a problem in extreme climates where water can get into the cracks between supports, freeze and expand and cause a huge amount of damage." Beyond that, says Miller, "concrete is a very forgiving material, and so it can stand up to a lot of cracking and wear. Steel on the other hand, cannot." In a place like Minnesota, where road crews dump corrosive ice melter on roadways by the ton in winter, the problem is even worse.

But since civil engineers know all this, how come they didn't spot the weak points? It may well be that the real breaking point was hidden, or simply wasn't obvious under normal inspection. In fact, as everyone knows by now, the bridge was deemed "structurally deficient" starting in 1990. That didn't result in an emergency repair order, but rather an intention to replace the bridge by 2020 — not unusual, evidently, since the designation doesn't suggest imminent danger. According to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, speaking Thursday afternoon at a press conference, there are no fewer 70,000 to 80,000 bridges in the U.S. in the same category; at least another 80,000 are considered "functionally obsolete," or not up to current design standards, another label that fails to testify to a structure's safety for travel.

It would be so expensive to fix hundreds of thousands of bridges that it's just not going to happen. But these numbers highlight the problem of the nation's infrastructure. No word is likely to make taxpayers' eyes glaze over more quickly. As a result, officials at all levels of government tend to defer maintenance on bridges and roadways; the voters wouldn't stand for the required expenditures, estimated at more than $9 billion a year. They might, however, be willing to pay for more frequent and thorough inspections, which could distinguish the structurally deficient bridges in imminent danger of failure from those that aren't.

In Minnesota, Gov. Pawlenty announced an immediate emergency round of inspections of all of the state's bridges, starting with the three that have the same structure as the crumbled Minneapolis span.

"The country is behind on infrastructure, and improvements need to be made," Pawlenty told reporters. "Anyone who looks at the national picture or the national statistics and says we don't have problems would be naive."

[Sjöröveren]

Speaking as a life-long Minnesotan, who had crossed that bridge hundreds, perhaps thousands of times, I feel that Gov. Pawlenty is one of those naive people he points the finger at. During this past legislative session, a modest increase in the gasoline tax was passed with bi-partisan support, though Pawlenty warned from the first that he would veto it. And he did. An attempt to override his veto fell short. This was just the latest in a long line of decisions made by both political parties to willfully ignore long-term problems in favor of short term agendas.

But I can't blame the governor, nor any other politician for the bridge collapse. I don't think the blame is on any one person. It is a collective blame. We have come to believe that we are in control, and we expect that everything should go according to plan. Most of the time it does. Most of the time bridges don't fall down, buildings don't collapse, planes don't crash. When they do, we try to figure out why, and sometimes we even find an answer that seems to work. Until the next time.

We are imperfect creatures, striving towards a perfect world. We will never get there. Sometimes the paths we take turn out to be strokes of genius, sometimes they are miserable failures. But we keep trying, knowing that we will never achieve our goal, because it's what we do.

So I will keep driving over bridges. It's just part of this imperfect life, the only one I've got.

[Misson]

But I can't blame the governor, nor any other politician for the bridge collapse. I don't think the blame is on any one person. It is a collective blame. We have come to believe that we are in control, and we expect that everything should go according to plan. Most of the time it does. Most of the time bridges don't fall down, buildings don't collapse, planes don't crash. When they do, we try to figure out why, and sometimes we even find an answer that seems to work. Until the next time.

We are imperfect creatures, striving towards a perfect world. We will never get there. Sometimes the paths we take turn out to be strokes of genius, sometimes they are miserable failures. But we keep trying, knowing that we will never achieve our goal, because it's what we do.

So I will keep driving over bridges. It's just part of this imperfect life, the only one I've got.

I'm not sure it could be put any more eloquently, so I won't even attempt to. Bravo.

[Duchess]

Speaking as a life-long Minnesotan, who had crossed that bridge hundreds, perhaps thousands of times, I feel that Gov. Pawlenty is one of those naive people he points the finger at. During this past legislative session, a modest increase in the gasoline tax was passed with bi-partisan support, though Pawlenty warned from the first that he would veto it. And he did. An attempt to override his veto fell short. This was just the latest in a long line of decisions made by both political parties to willfully ignore long-term problems in favor of short term agendas.

But I can't blame the governor, nor any other politician for the bridge collapse. I don't think the blame is on any one person. It is a collective blame. We have come to believe that we are in control, and we expect that everything should go according to plan. Most of the time it does. Most of the time bridges don't fall down, buildings don't collapse, planes don't crash. When they do, we try to figure out why, and sometimes we even find an answer that seems to work. Until the next time.

We are imperfect creatures, striving towards a perfect world. We will never get there. Sometimes the paths we take turn out to be strokes of genius, sometimes they are miserable failures. But we keep trying, knowing that we will never achieve our goal, because it's what we do.

So I will keep driving over bridges. It's just part of this imperfect life, the only one I've got.

Well said.

[Lady Alyx]

mmm why settle for imperfection...we can still strive for it...if there is a will there is a way I believe...if we use preventative measures instead of waiting for the last minute a lot can be accomplished...we choose to be lazy

[Misson]

Given an infinite number of monkeys and an infinite amount of time, the monkeys will eventually produce the entire collected works of Shakespeare.

Alas, the equation does not appear to work when you substitute "money" for "monkey". (Assuming you could collect an infinite amount of money. Even the battle cry "Tax the rich!" won't do it...)

So given an infinite amount of money and and infinite amount of time, the government will produce the entirety of a collective bureaucracy, but not perfect bridges. Or perfect educational systems. Or perfect energy policies. Or perfect law systems. Or perfect auto licensing procedures. Or...well, perhaps you get the point.

Besides perfection in design vs money is a exponential curve. (And thus, an infinite amount of money will still not produce perfect bridges. So we fall back on our old friend cost-benefit analysis.)

[PyratePhil]

If we agree with the Ideal Gas Law:

pV=nRT

Then we might also be able to apply:

(mV /(Bu)) = mEGW

Where:

m=money

Bu=Bureaucracy

V=Volume

E=Empty Space in Wallet

G=Greed

W=Waste

This tells us that ANY volume of money will expand to fill all empty spaces in a bureaucrat's wallet, regardless of the temperature of the times or the pressure of the constituents.

[Lady Alyx]

While we have yet to design the perfect bridge....it does not mean they should shirk their duties for retrofiting...leaving them in marginal state full knowing something can go wrong is just plain wrong.

[Misson]

If we agree with the Ideal Gas Law:

pV=nRT

Then we might also be able to apply:

(mV /(Bu)) = mEGW

Where:

m=money

Bu=Bureaucracy

V=Volume

E=Empty Space in Wallet

G=Greed

W=Waste

This tells us that ANY volume of money will expand to fill all empty spaces in a bureaucrat's wallet, regardless of the temperature of the times or the pressure of the constituents.

I need one of Rumba's zany emoticons for that one!

[Red Cat Jenny]

I think the perfect statement for the handling of NY's infrastructure is

Sucks Much

Oh thank you planners of wisdom for closing the three main East / West arteries as well as all but one lane on the two major North/ South ones at the same time..

oh and while you were at it... you saw fit to do major construction on the only two major highways feeding JFK. Making my already late status even later and my trip home even longer than my usual 12 hour day. Yes I relish my butt going numb and the endless commercials on the radio. It gives me time to marvel at your wisdom. To fully agree with my previous theory that a full scale evacuation is the bastard child of idiot planners. Up is the only way out, unless you can swim real far. I'll take my lawnchair and balloon thank you. (Gotta get one of those) Oh and whom do I pay off..um I mean fill out a form and pay for a permit to own such?

Yes, dear benevolent sirs, how I have marveled at your copious foresight as I sat in hours of post 11PM traffic for 3 weeks straight.

Oh! and it allowed me the pleasure of appeasing your other buddies the gas pricers as I sat running $20s out of the tank. I could hear them counting the chings to the rhythm of asphalt pinging off my car from the workers jackhammering close enough to pinch.

Oh and how astute of you to relieve your workers of any compliance to OSHA so they could do said jackhammering sans goggles, hearing protction or gloves. How very frugal. Yes these are happy men. How wise you are. I wonder at the dust and it's contents we all breathed as we routed through what should have been a full closure to allow construction of that proportion. What's that you say? Oh...aye I forgot...you closed everything else and painted yourself into a corner so

having me risk my tires and my lungs was just a favor you needed...hey no hard feelings ...really. I'll just send you the bill...but then you probably don't live in NY, or you don't drive..yourselves at least

Do I sound bitter? No worries...I'll just meditate while I sit here in my car. The mantra I'll use dear sirs, I may not print here, so I'll leave you to guess at the epithets of love hurled your way along with the gravel, dust and gas money...please...it's the least I can do...

[Sjöröveren]

mmm why settle for imperfection...we can still strive for it...if there is a will there is a way I believe...if we use preventative measures instead of waiting for the last minute a lot can be accomplished...we choose to be lazy

I'm not saying we should settle for imperfection. But even the absololute best human endeavor can never be perfect. So while striving for perfection, in the back of your mind there must be the awareness that it is impossible to be perfect. I think that's at the heart of civilization. Humans naturally try to change their environment, in an imperfect attempt to improve it. And with every improvement come errors and unintended consequences. Yet we try again. You can argue whether any of these "improvements" are actually good for us. Maybe it was a mistake to come down from the trees and start walking upright. But we tend to learn something from our mistakes, just not enough to be perfect. Doesn't mean we should stop trying.

And speaking of not learning from our mistakes, the local debate is begining to devolve into the usual party politics. Raise taxes. Don't raise taxes. Plan for future technologies. Get it done quickly. Get it done right. It's still mostly in civil tones, but I don't hold out much hope that we'll make even most of the people happy.

[Red Cat Jenny]

I agree Sea Rover..

My Grandma (bless her) lived to be over 100. Her rule was always "moderation in everything". Maybe thats good advice. If you drive yourself nuts trying to perfect a thing..You may loose sight of what is just down the road..and that thing may then suffer sort of cancelling out all your hard work.

I agree politics can stalemate the best of efforts..sadly.

But sometimes (If you study the Bio of Robert Moses) you need to play a little dirty pool to get the money and power on your side. Even if its for lasting good. Look at how Franklin became a "spin doctor" to the French. Sigh...I guess it's just keeping your eye on the global view.