St. Cloud Times goes too far in speculating over the bridge collapse if you ask me

There’s no doubt in my mind that bridges and roads could use some more care. There’s also no doubt in my mind that what happened on 35W was an accident. It has now been less than two weeks since the bridge collapsed and it seems like every conceivable angle and every possible question has been raised about the bridge. What caused it? How can we prevent it from happening next time? Should a bridge ever fall? Should we be able to trust other bridges? Should we raise taxes to pay for our roads? Is the government spending money wisely enough? These questions are expected, but when do we go too far in speculating? Is it possible to do so?

The St. Cloud Times Opinion page has an article (presumably from opinion editor Randy Krebs) that goes a little too far if you ask me. It asks the question “Why should we feel safe?” I’d say we should feel safe because this 35W bridge collapse is an anomaly! It’s not like bridges are falling every other day. It’s not like this has been a problem on a monthly or yearly basis, has it? Here’s the article:

St. Cloud Times “Our View: our nation has reason to doubt inspections.”

Why should we believe our bridges are safe?

With all due respect to the local, state and national officials who have spent countless hours the past 11 days inspecting bridges, that remains the big unanswered question in the wake of the Aug. 1 Minneapolis bridge collapse.
Please understand, we are not trying to impugn someone’s personal credibility or cause a national panic.

But we believe this fundamental question is being vastly overlooked by those with a vested interest in bridges — namely the governmental jurisdictions liable for their safety.

The inspection system used here didn’t ultimately uncover whatever caused this collapse. Knowing that, why should the public put a whole lot of faith in any “new” inspection results of bridges made after the collapse?

So you want to know what ultimately caused the bridge to collapse, after 11 days? Well, I’d like a million dollars but that’s not happening anytime soon! Why don’t we wait until we find out what did cause this collapse. We don’t even know if it was faulty design yet. It could’ve been construction crews that beat up a girder, it could’ve been too much static weight in one part of the bridge as has been suggested, it could’ve been global warming (just kidding), it could’ve been vibration from the train below, and maybe just maybe it could’ve just been a freak accident! OK, back to the article:

Whether those inspections occur in Central Minnesota or Central Michigan, if the same methods, tests and standards are being applied today as were applied before the collapse, the public has legitimate reason to doubt such findings.

It doesn’t help that after the scores of bridge inspections ordered nationwide since Aug. 1, there are few, if any, reports deeming a bridge unsafe and closing it immediately to traffic.

Well aren’t we a pessimist. Shouldn’t that actually be considered good news? Are you rooting for bridges to be on the verge of collapse?

Sadly, instead the public typically hears something like, “While the bridge still is rated structurally deficient, it remains safe for use.” Sorry, but that pile of cracked concrete, crushed cars and twisted steel 70 miles south on the Mississippi River speaks to how much stock the public should put in those words. Remember, that mass first was rated “structurally deficient” in 1990 but still in better shape — until Aug. 1 — than 41 other Minnesota bridges. To say nothing of the fact that Minnesota’s bridge inspection efforts are considered better than those in most other states.

I know it’s hard to accept in this day and age of advanced technology that mankind isn’t perfect, and that we may in fact be subject to accidental tragedies, but try to get a grip!

Yet there are some glimmers of hope.

The first came Aug. 3 when U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced the Federal Highway Administration’s bridge inspection program would face intense review. U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar last week brought renewed attention to that effort when he called for several changes, including raising inspection standards and improving training for inspectors. He also called on bridge-building experts to re-examine everything from the industry’s knowledge base to building practices.

Oberstar also called for a federal gas tax, now that’s real leadership. No, wait, that’s a fundamentally wrong response to a tragic situation. Frankly it comes across as shifting the blame! Instead of constructively looking at how we can prioritize spending on essentials like our bridges, it’s suddenly a problem of insufficient funds. Rubbish!

That’s the kind of thinking all levels of government — and especially bridge experts and engineers — need to embrace and act on in devising an improved inspection system. What this nation doesn’t need is more claims of confidence coming from an inspection system that for 47 years didn’t adequately reveal the true weaknesses of the I-35W bridge.

You’re telling me that a report from 47 years ago was flawed? Did it ever occur to you that the bridge changes over time? Did it ever occur to you that there may in fact be factors outside the realm of inspections that played a role in this collapse? We don’t know yet, and here we are making accusations, stirring up fears, and doing the worst kind of speculation.

It just gets to a point where you want to say, “Enough is enough!” The horse has been beaten to death.

Here are some conclusions I’ve drawn 11 days since the bridge collapse:

1. This was a terrible tragedy, but in the end just an accident, and I’m not entirely sure anything could’ve been done to prevent it because no one would’ve known it needed to be prevented in the first place.

2. We do need to do more to try and prevent these things, even if it’s not entirely possible to avoid all accidents in life, we should try our best to avoid them.

3. The microscope is out, and people are starting to realize that both the state and federal government are wasting our tax dollars on non-essentials.

4. In light of the poor spending habits by the government we’re learning about, people are STRONGLY OPPOSED to a tax increase of any kind including a gas tax increase.

5. It’s going to be a tough battle to fundamentally change the way government taxes and spends our money.