Joel Achenbach with a thoughtful look at “Why Bridges Fall Down.”
An aging country full of aging infrastructure and no consensus to do anything about it: That’s the United States in the early 21st century. An old steam pipe explodes and creates a crater in midtown Manhattan. The Minneapolis bridge was distressingly average — 40 years old. The norm, nationally, according to WaPo radio, is 42 years.
…When you go through life you have to assume that bridges won’t collapse, planes won’t fall from the sky, buildings won’t catch on fire, power lines won’t fall onto the sidewalk and electrocute pedestrians, steam tunnels won’t explode, and so on. Otherwise you’d go crazy, crossing your fingers ever time you took a step. [Actually I do that compulsively, but medication is helping.]
But for those systems to work, there have to be people who design them properly, inspect them, maintain them, and replace them when they’re worn out.
He has more. Interesting.