Reassurances in Minneapolis

We all agree... bridges aren't supposed to collapse. The 35W span that collapsed in Minneapolis just shouldn't have; it was being inspected. Well, the inspections were halted during road surface repair, but it was being inspected. Minnesota Department of Transportation chose to do no further repair, only inspections.

We've been told repeatedly that Minnesota's inspection plan is better than that of most states.
That's reassuring.

Both the President and the First Lady came to look at the scene of the tragedy.
That's reassuring.

Rescue and recovery systems that sprung into action after the disaster seem to have worked well.
That's reassuring.

The loss of life could have been much worse.
That's reassuring.

Officials at all levels are determined to find out why this bridge collapsed.
That's reassuring.

President Bush will cut through red tape to help get the bridge replaced.
That's reassuring.

I was feeling nicely reassured, then I saw a report compiled by the Pioneer Press staff (which has covered the disaster much better than it's larger rival StarTribune) "Structurally deficient Twin Cities bridges", compiled from National Inventory of Bridges data. There are 20 or so other area bridges that are less safe than the one that collapsed. Take a look.
That is not reassuring.

If you live in the Twin Cities, I'm sure you've crossed over these bridges many times without thinking about it. You couldn't travel around the area without doing so. One of the listed bridges, the Larpenteur bridge, crosses over Highway 280, which is now packed with traffic diverted around the collapsed 35W bridge. Another one, the 35E bridge at Cayuga St., is a very long 8-lane land bridge that carries even more traffic than the downed bridge, is 2 years older, and is rated lower in sufficiency.

If you live outside the Twin Cities, take no comfort in knowing that the bridges in your area are probably no better, and may well be even less safe.

Retrospection allows us to second-guess what MNDOT did or didn't do about the bridge that collapsed. I doubt that there was any serious inadequacy among MNDOT personnel, even though the overall effort was clearly inadequate. That's often the case within government agencies (and other big organizations). They're too big... too many projects... too many levels of communication... too much power, too much job security... and too political. Government holds a virtual monopoly on streets and highways. They have no competitors that might be able to gain our "business" by doing a better job. They tell us what a fine job they're doing. They have people and budgets for such self-praise. It doesn't make any difference whether we're convinced; we don't have an alternative to trusting them (nor to paying them).

The state has jumped into action. The backlog of highway projects is no longer acceptable. We will not only get the increase in gas tax the legislature wanted (and the governor didn't) but we'll also get the bonding bill the governor wants. Wonder how many new bridges the $450 billion spent on the War in Iraq might have built?

So, government fails to provide safe results to it's customers, customers suffer death, injury, fear, inconvenience, and now the customers will pay more. That is not reassuring, but it is typical of government.