Like most Americans I was left with a lot of questions after last week’s Minneapolis bridge collapse. Those of us here in what we call the Twin Cities are still amazed at the low number of deaths since that bridge typically carries a huge amount of rush hour traffic. On a visit to the bridge site, DFL House Speaker Margaret Kelliher of Minneapolis expressed the feelings of many when she said:
This is a wake-up call and a call to action for all Minnesota legislators to take action and be able to do something that will begin to address the backlog of projects that are out there.
There is also a lot of anger about what happened. One Minnesotan emailed:
Heads should roll at MNDOT!
Baghdad has better bridges than the USA has!
America’s highway system is terrible!
And the questions still remain. Here are some of them to ponder:
What are the standards for bridges?
How are bridges usually inspected?
Who does the inspections?
How accurate are the inspections?
How many bridges in this country are in need of repair?
How much will it cost to repair them?
What is the state of the rest of our infrastructure?
Who is ultimately responsible for the bridge collapse?
I am inviting readers to post their own reactions and answers in the comments section.
A post this week will answer these questions in an InDepth report.
Stay tuned and bookmark this site if you are interested in the answers–which by the way will be an exclusive from this site. You will not find such a report anywhere else in the blogosphere or the media. That’s what this site is about.
Print Posted by: liberalamerican
