Oh for goodness sake, 40 years is not OLD. MOST bridges in this country are that old or older, and they are fine for their intended use. Just think of Europe, where many of their most famous bridges (ie Pont Neuf in Paris, Charles Bridge in Prague) are CENTURIES old.
I think they will find a combination of factors came together to bring this bridge down. Maintenance is important, but even so, remember this bridge WAS undergoing repair when this happened. It had been inspected on schedule and not found to be in danger. What do you think is humanly possible in this kind of situation? Why must someone always be blamed?
We are ‘conservatives’ - do we really want Fed Gov’t to increase their intrusion into our lives? Do you really think we can totally eliminate risk altogether? Do you really want to be taxed enough to build all new bridges in your city/state every few years? Nuts!
Are you an expert on bridges?
What do you base your opinion on?
As far as I am concerned, I EXPECT the Federal and state to maintain roads and bridges with tax dollars they ARE getting for THIS.