Can we save ourselves?
The Forbes Avenue bridge over Fern Hollow Creek in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park collapsed Friday morning, Jan. 28, with several vehicles, including a Port Authority bus, on the span at the time.
The span that collapsed is known as the Fern Hollow Bridge, used by an estimated 14,500 vehicles daily (from Pittsburgh Action 4).
Ten people were injured. No one was killed when the bridge buckled at 6:39 a.m., officials said, although four people were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening.
President Biden, who ironically was visiting the area, warned that the country might not be so lucky next time. “We don’t need headlines saying that someone was killed when the next bridge collapses,” Biden said (Washington Post).
“The most recent report using 2021 data showed more than 43,500 of the country’s roughly 615,000 bridges were rated poor. That number is about 4,000 less than those reported to be in poor condition nationally in 2017,” said WHYY Public Broadcasting.
In the past several decades, America has seen horrific bridge collapses, including:
• Big Bayou Canot, outside Mobile, Alabama, 47 deaths, Sept. 22, 1993.
Silver Bridge over the Ohio River, between Point Pleasant, W. Va., and Gallipolis, Ohio, 46 deaths, Dec. 15, 1967.
Cypress Street Viaduct, Oakland, Cali., 42 deaths, Oct. 17, 1989.
Sunshine Skyway Bridge, St. Petersburg, Fla., 35 deaths, May 9, 1980.
I-40 Bridge, Webster Falls, Okla., 14 deaths, May 26, 2002.
Cline Ave, East Chicago, Ind., 14 deaths, April 15, 1982.
I-35 West Bridge, Minneapolis, Minn., 13 deaths, Aug. 1, 2007.
Schoharie Creek Bridge, Fort Hunter, N.Y., 10 deaths, 1987.
Sydney Lanier Bridge, Brunswick, Ga., 10 deaths, Nov. 7, 1972 (CNN.Com).
The cost of repairing 45,000 structurally deficient bridges, which are on average 68 years old, is $41.8 billion, using data from the US Department of Transportation.
About 36-percent of all bridges need replacing, while 22-percent need structural work, 19-percent need rehabilitation work, 18-percent need widening or rehabilitation and 5-percent need deck work (Global Construction Review).
As we consider rebuilding our bridges and other infrastructure, we have to face our current $29 trillion gross federal debt. This is held by the public as well as by federal trust funds and other government accounts.
We are our own biggest creditor, with Japan being second and China third. The $29 trillion debt s greater than the size of the economies of China, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom and India combined. This amounts to $87,000 per person in our country.
Researchers at Brown University estimate that the U.S. has spent $5.8 trillion on the war in Afghanistan and other conflicts stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. That includes spending on everything from military equipment to homeland security to death gratuities for the families or slain American service members.
Will Russia’s military maneuvers on the Ukraine border cost America?
Whenever there is a problem in the world, we go regardless of the cost. The problem is: We don’t have any money, and our bridges and other infrastructure are crumbling. We are in debt and dependent on Taiwan and China to completely build an automobile. We have become a poor nation because of our indebtedness and dependence on foreign countries. A friend of mine received his COVID-19 test in the mail last week and it was made in China.
If we don’t rebuild our infrastructure, including regaining energy and technology independence, and manage our debt, we won’t be able to help ourselves.