There are about 630,000 nosepiece in the United States , ranging from impressive new structural founding likeMargaret Hunt Hill bridgein Dallas to degenerate slab of concrete in desperate need repair . It ’s that last growing group of Harry Bridges , ports , and main road that represent the slowing decaying substructure that was once the good in the world .
In a new60 Minutes account , host Steve Kroft lays down some knowledge that , for all of us nosepiece - traveling , highway - driving citizens , would be pretty alarming : 1 out of every 9 bridge are in various level of disrepair . That ’s around 70,000 bridge entire if you ’re keeping track . This is n’t precisely startlingly new information , an AP report last year reported similar numbers , but rather a admonisher that the problem is n’t going forth as long as the administration continues to ignore it .
That does n’t mean all of these structures are on the wand of crash with every give-up the ghost railway car , train , or footer , butit does stand for they are in desperate want of TLC in the form of jillion and billion of dollars — money that just does n’t survive . Kroft explains the political riddle :
The major source of tax revenue , the Federal Highway Trust Fund , which gets its money from the Union accelerator tax at $ 0.18 a gallon , is almost insolvent . Former transportation secretary Ray LaHood says it will go broke by next give , unless something is done . “ That was the bay window of money that over 50 geezerhood helped us create the best interstate system in the world , which is now fall apart . ”
With infrastructure that used to be a global leader , the U.S. now sits in 12th place concord to aGlobal Competitiveness report , and with no design to raise more investment trust for a major infrastructure redevelopment , there ’s reason to have a bun in the oven that ranking will plunge further .
Bridges are only part of the problem . 60 Minutes also foreground that one - third of the country ’s main road ask attention , commuter train rail is laughablein comparison to countries like Japan , and seaports are also sadly unprepared for a new generation of container ship .
keen infrastructure does n’t require much remember from the public , because it just works — Clarence Day - in and solar day - out . But whengreat turns to poor , that ’s when you get delays , economic failure , andeven fatalities .
Besides , in addition to preserve lives , unexampled bridges just look coolheaded . [ 60 second viaGothamist ]
Image still via 60 Minutes , view of the Portal bridge on the Hackensack River in New Jersey , which was based on span conception from the 1840s and was already turn over obsolete shortly after its mop up in 1910 . It ’s still in use today .
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