Bridge Collapse in MN....

[Breadburner]

I think it's only a matter of time before something similar happens here....But not on such a large scale.....I see the government has already pledged 5 mill in aid so far....Does anyone recall if Oklahoma recived any aid for the I-40 brige collapse.....

[sgrizzle]

I believe they did, especially since it was an interstate.

Where are the gas tax hike people? "Oklahomans for Safe Bridges and Roads"

Their website is down.

[Townsend]

So far we just have parts of our bridges falling off.

Maybe this will draw attention to bad infrastructure care.

[NellieBly]

I wonder if something like this happened in Tulsa, if we would change our priorities to address our aging infrastructure rather than moving city hall or filling up the river.

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

I wonder if something like this happened in Tulsa, if we would change our priorities to address our aging infrastructure rather than moving city hall or filling up the river.

I was thinking the same thing, only on a larger scale.  Perhaps now, instead of filling the transportation bill with huge amounts of pork, perhaps our representatives will realize why we send them to Washington.

[waterboy]

I couldn't help but notice yesterday that among the first people on the scene and the first boat was...an airboat. Great rescue vehicles.

[YoungTulsan]

quote:Originally posted by Breadburner

I think it's only a matter of time before something similar happens here....But not on such a large scale.....I see the government has already pledged 5 mill in aid so far....Does anyone recall if Oklahoma recived any aid for the I-40 brige collapse.....

I found this article

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/fhwa2202.htm

^ Bush Admin promised $3 million directly after the bridge collapse.

And then this one from when the bridge re-opened:

http://newsok.com/article/894007

^ It was completed in 2 months, way ahead of schedule.  Total cost of around $30 million when they took into account all of the repairs that had to be done on the alternate routes during the I-40 closure.

I haven't found a follow up since that article, but it said Congress had already approved $12 million in federal funds, and that Brad Carson was trying to get the rest, or most of the rest, paid for by the feds as well.  The State may have paid for some of it (Or all of it, and got reimbursed for it afterwards), since it mentions the State paying for the bonus paid to the construction company for completing it ahead of schedule.

[cannon_fodder]

The bridge had known problems since 1990:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1649458,00.html

Most interstate bridges are 50 years old at their core, the ones in the north have salt dumped on them on a regular basis, in Minneapolis that is for 6 months out of the year.

From a politicians perspective, you could either fix a 1 mile bridge (structurally) or 100 miles of surface streets with the same money.  The surface streets are more likely to get you re-elected.

[Townsend]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20099119

Dry table but you can see all the deficient and obsolete bridges listed in Oklahoma.

We're not the worst but we're bad enough to be concerned.  Apparently Oklahoma has been consistently screwed by the federal government for many years.  I wish we could have a Ted Stevens.

[patric]

Maybe its time (again) to see how well our state leadership is spending money collected for road and bridge repair on, well, road and bridge repair.  

Voters dont like being asked to pay twice for the same thing.  What's to guarantee another new tax to pay for bridges (that were supposed to already be funded) wont itself be raided to pay for some other pork or corporate welfare later on?

[NellieBly]

" I wish we could have a Ted Stevens."

You're kidding right?

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by patric

Maybe its time (again) to see how well our state leadership is spending money collected for road and bridge repair on, well, road and bridge repair.  

Voters dont like being asked to pay twice for the same thing.  What's to guarantee another new tax to pay for bridges (that were supposed to already be funded) wont itself be raided to pay for some other pork or corporate welfare later on?

The roads & bridges people suggested a locked fund, as well as raising diesel taxes to match gasoline, and were dismissed.

[Townsend]

quote:Originally posted by NellieBly

" I wish we could have a Ted Stevens."

You're kidding right?

His ability to secure federal funding for the state.  Not the bribery.  At least we don't have the brib...

[sgrizzle]

Why was I not surprised that Tulsa had more than any other county on the list. We had 140 out of 422 for the state.

[aoxamaxoa]

Pigeon poop....