Culture
Why America's Bridges Are in Such Dangerously Bad Shape
There are many answers, but they all boil down to the structure of federal transportation funding.
Late last month, part of the Interstate 5 bridge in Washington state fell into the Skagit River. The bridge connects a key commercial corridor between Seattle and Vancouver, and while the immediate cause of the collapse was an oversized truck destabilizing the bridge, the structure itself had documented problems. It was classified as "functionally obsolete," meaning its design no longer met new traffic patterns, and it had a "sufficiency rating" of 46 out of 100, qualifying it for replacement.
No one died in the accident, amazingly and fortunately enough, but the entire situation tempted fate.