Unfortunately, given Virginia's chronic shortfall of funds for maintenance of roads and bridges, situations like this are almost certain to keep occurring:
A steel deck-truss bridge collapsed Wednesday, injuring a man who was driving a concrete truck over it, transportation officials said.Work was under way to replace the 158-foot, one-lane bridge over Walker Creek, which had been deemed structurally deficient under federal guidelines, said Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Heidi Coy.
The designation, which applies to 10 percent of the state's 20,000 bridges, means a bridge must be monitored, inspected and maintained but does not imply that it is unsafe or likely to collapse.
Coy said the contract to replace the bridge was awarded last year, months before a similar bridge collapse in Minnesota killed 13 people. The bridge, built in 1932, was deemed structurally deficient in February.
So what are we going to do about this situation? According to Waldo Jaquith, "Republicans have proposed nothing" to "address the enormous, systemic transportation funding shortfalls." Waldo adds, "[Bob] McDonnell, as the presumptive Republican nominee for governor next year, has taken the lead in proposing nothing." Finally, Waldo provides a short narrative outlining "how [McDonnell's] nothing plan has developed." It MIGHT be amusing if it weren't so serious.
In short, as our transportation infrastructure crumbles, Virginia Republicans -- including Bob McDonnell -- fiddles.