BCT Editorial – 1/1/06

This page was last updated on January 1, 2006.

Falling down; Editorial; Beaver County Times; January 1, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“The United States must start addressing its crumbling infrastructure

“The sky might not be falling, but our bridges are.

“On Tuesday evening, a 125-ton, structurally deficient concrete overpass fell onto Interstate 70 just east of its split with Interstate 79.

“In doing so, it served as a dramatic reminder of the deteriorating condition of our infrastructure at local, state and federal levels.

“Although authorities are still trying to figure out the reason for the collapse - possible causes include overweight truck traffic on the bridge or mine subsidence beneath it - the incident served as a dramatic exclamation point to a report in the Patriot-News in Harrisburg on the condition of the state’s bridges.

“The Patriot-News reported that four out of every 10 of those bridges are classified as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The state owns and maintains about 25,000 bridges. Six thousand others are owned by counties and municipalities.

“The cost of fixing the problem is staggering. The Associated Press reports Pennsylvania would have to spend up to $500 million each year for the next 20 years to cut the number of structurally deficient bridges to 10 percent.

“To put that $500 million into perspective, the state spent $317 million in 2003 and $363 million in 2004 on bridge repair and replacement. This year, an estimated $391 million will be spent on bridges.

“A PennDOT official said the state hopes to increase spending to $450 million next year. Of that, $100 million would be spent on maintenance projects geared toward bridge preservation.

“Part of the problem here is what wasn’t spent in the past. Before the state’s 1997 gasoline-tax package, PennDOT was only spending about $150 million a year on bridges.

“But it isn’t just Pennsylvania’s bridges that are falling down or apart. The nation as a whole faces massive infrastructure problems that are largely being ignored by state and federal officials as well as most Americans.

“The American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2005 ‘Report Card for America’s Infrastructure’ makes for dismal reading. ASCE gave the nation’s overall infrastructure a ‘D’ and said it would take $1.6 trillion over five years to address the needs in all 15 categories.”

[RWC] I’m not saying the ASCE assessment is incorrect, but we need to keep in mind low grades help the ASCE because low grades mean more projects and this benefits ASCE membership.

“Here are the categories and the grades ASCE handed out: aviation, D-plus; bridges, C; dams, D; drinking water, D-minus; energy, D; hazardous waste, D; navigable waterways, D-minus; public parks and recreation, C-minus; rail, C-minus; roads, D; schools, D; security, I (incomplete); solid waste, C-plus; transit, D-plus; and wastewater, D-minus.

“America’s infrastructure is slipping toward Third World status. If we as a nation and a state don’t start reinvesting in our infrastructure, more bridges will be falling down, more water lines will be rupturing, more wastewater will enter our streams and rivers and more dams will be in danger of bursting.

“What we don’t pay for now, our children and grandchildren will pay for later.”

[RWC] This and today’s other editorial are linked, but apparently the author(s) don’t know it. The more we spend on social programs that are not the government’s business, the less we have to spend on true government responsibilities like infrastructure.

Also keep in mind that the Times always advocates taking gas tax revenue intended for highway projects and giving it to mass transit. I believe this is what is referred to as talking out of both sides of your moth.