Just one year after the catastrophic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota, it isn\u2019t a matter of whether another bridge will crumble, but when, according to an infrastructure expert. The danger goes beyond the mere safety of individuals traveling on that bridge, but also to the infrastructure of the nation\u2019s business environment, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cInfrastructure is the backbone of our whole commercial world. It keeps us competitive around the globe by moving products and people safely,\u201d Barry B. LePatner, founder of the New York City-based law firm LePatner & Associates L.L.P., which advises on business and legal issues affecting real estate, design, and construction industries, as well as the author of Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America ‘s Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry<\/em>, told CPN<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Minnesota bridge tragedy may not be an isolated event. LePatner said there are 600,000 bridges across the country and statistics show that one in four are either functionally obsolete or structurally deficient. The funds allocated federally for these more than half-million bridges comes out to about $3,500 per bridge for maintenance and inspection, he said. \u201cThat means if they are structurally deficient, they can no longer handle the original design load capacity,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe number of lanes used needs to be reduced. If it is functionally obsolete, it means that no proper maintenance has been done for many years and we if continue that way, that bridge will be structurally deficient.\u201d<\/p>\n In the year since the bridge collapse, the nation has not changed policies or increased the maintenance \u2013 or even the money allocated for maintenance \u2013 for bridges across the country, LePatner added.\u201cI do not think it is going to make much of a difference,\u201d he said. \u201cPoliticians at local and federal levels have acknowledged that the subject is bigger than they can handle.\u201d<\/p>\n So, is anyone doing it right? \u201cThe best example is New York City,\u201d LePatner said. \u201cWe had deteriorating bridges which served millions of people for decades with not a penny put to them. Then came the late 1990s and for the first time, had a huge surplus. To the credit to the people at the state government level, they spent $3 billion dollars to bring bridges and roads up to standards and every year since they\u2019ve applied $500 million for maintenance and repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n The challenge now as the economy is struggling, the entities are going into a period where the financial commitments won\u2019t be backed up by tax revenues, he said. Talks about a national infrastructure bank, private\/public partnerships and committing more road and gas taxes to this critical need are all there, but no single thing will meet the needs, he said, it must be a combination.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of the engineers have told me and what I\u2019ve been telling audiences all over the nation that if you understand the dynamics of what happens to a bridge that doesn\u2019t get regular maintenance over decades, then it is not a question of whether, but a question of when bridges will collapse,\u201d he said. \u201cBridges are your like grandmother\u2019s wicker chair that she gave you and you left out in the rain. There are probably some slats broken and you realize you can sit on it one day and then next you\u2019ll fall through the wicker. You cannot reverse the process unless you do the right remediation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just one year after the catastrophic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota, it isn\u2019t a matter of whether another bridge will crumble, but when, according to an infrastructure expert. The danger goes beyond the mere safety of individuals traveling on that bridge, but also to the infrastructure of the nation\u2019s business environment, too. \u201cInfrastructure…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21742],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003834667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n