Bridge Wake UP Call

I have not heard it yet from the countless hours of news coverage dedicated to the Minneapolis bridge collapse but I'm sure many people are wondering to what degree budget shortfalls played a role in decisions about this bridge. I realize it maybe early for this discussion but with 70-80 thousand bridges with structurally deficient designations in this country you have to be a little concerned.
Last evening there was mention of the high cost of replacement in one report read by Anderson Cooper of CNN. I couldn't locate this information on the Minnesota DOT website but I know from experience that the level of available funding has a way of creeping into the objectivity of inspection reports.
Since we have been hearing about a crumbling infrastructure in this country for several years now, it seems an automatic question to ask how much has the 440 billion that has been spent on the Iraq war, taken away from tending to such critical matters as these. I suspect the truth is frightening. Make no mistake about it. This was another Government failure. Now there will be a big expensive scramble to catch up to where they were already paid to be, only this time we'll pay the same people doing the same job at premium pay because it's an emergency. And get ready to ante up. It's like a late Sunday evening with six house guest then the sewer backs up and your on hold for Roto-Rooter. Hold on to your wallet.
I thought that it was interesting that Governor Pawlenty announced that they would hire their own outside consulting firm to get to the bottom of what went wrong. He said that they had faith in the NTSB but thought they should add some "redundancy" to the process. Interesting choice of words but beyond that why do we even have an NTSB and the cost associated with it if we can't trust their abilities. Drop another item off the list of things the Government does well.