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Tanner Thompson
English 1010
Salt Lake Community College
02/18/13
United States Failing Infrastructure
During rush hour on August 1, 2007 in Minneapolis 13 people were killed and 145
injured when suddenly the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapsed. Due to outdated
technology and despite reports citing problems for several years, no maintenance was done to
prevent a collapse. In 1990, the federal government gave the bridge a rating of “structurally
deficient”, which 75,000 other bridges in the U.S. have been given. The Minneapolis bridge
collapse shows how deteriorated and close to failure many of our infrastructures are. Despite
many roads, dams, and bridges receiving these similar ratings, no funds are being set aside to fix
the problem, which is putting all of our lives at risk, and the continued power of our country. Our
government needs to acknowledge the potential catastrophes we are facing and start raising
funds and finding new technologies to reduce costs.
Two of the worst areas of America’s infrastructure are our roads and dams. Dams are a
crucial part of our country. They are necessary for water storage in the western states,
transportation of goods and flood control in the Midwest. Over 1,800 dams in America have a
high hazard rating. Only dams with the potential for catastrophic loss of life get this rating.
The other big problem in America is the shape of the dams. On the Cumberland River in
Kentucky sits one of the largest dams in America, the Wolf Creek Dam. The dam prevents
flooding that once was abundant along the 700 mile long river stretching from Kentucky to
Tennessee. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is currently renovating the dam, which was built
on top of limestone, a porous and highly soft rock not capable for withstanding the pressures of
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the contained water. If it were to give out, cities such as nearby Nashville would be under 20
feet of water and 1,000’s would die in Nashville alone.
“According to the ASCE there are 15,237 of the 85,000 dams that now possess the label
of "high hazard potential" (Durk). The hazard potential of a dam is the scale for determining the
possibility of damage if the dam were to give out. Wisely the Wolf Creek Dam is being
renovated, but thousands of dams are at the same risk with no maintenance being done on them.
“Many [dams] were built more than 50 years ago using outdated technology. About 3,500 are
deemed unsafe; some are classified as being on the verge of collapse”(CBS).
Part of the problem is that the government only owns 11% of the over 85,000 dams and
the rest are privately owned. A lot of the businesses that owned these dams have gone out of
business leaving no one keeping up on the maintenance. If there is a state budget for dam
maintenance they only employee a handful of inspectors, and states like Alabama don’t have a
budget at all. “The five year funding program for dam maintenance that has been implemented
requires $12.5 billion but has only been allocated $5.05 billion according to the ASCE” (Durk).
Roads are the arteries of America’s economy, like in the body, they provide
transportation for vital products. Some have estimated current funding for roads alone being
short $549 billion. And every year it gets more expensive. Alex Herrgott, a staffer on the in the
U.S. senate committee on environment and public works believes “The reason maintenance
budgets are where they are, is that you can’t cut a ribbon on a maintenance project. […] we’re at
a pivotal point where we have a legacy system that was built 50 years ago that’s crumbling under
our feet” (Herrgott).
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With little money available for repairs it is crucial to make every dollar count, in some
cases that means using new technology. One new technology is advanced bridge construction or
ABC which is the planning and construction of a bridge to reduce its effects on traffic. Bridges
used to be built in place, pouring the concrete beams in place, but with ABC many other methods
are used. One method is to build the bridge in small pieces and then closing the road to assemble
the parts quickly like Legos. Another way is to build the bridge completely on the side of the
road and then swing the bridge into place by cranes, or depending on the size using a SelfPropelled Modular Transporter (SPMT). A SPMT lifts the whole bridge then drives to the
supports and sets the bridge into place. Using these methods a bridge can be placed in a few days
or in some cases over night. Not only does this keep the road closures to a minimum, but it
greatly increases safety by reducing the amount of time workers are exposed to traffic and
decreasing the time drivers are distracted.
These new technologies have already been used in Utah. In 2008 the Mountain Dell and
Lamb’s Canyon bridges were replaced on I-80 by building the bridges adjacent to the road and
then driving them into place with a SPMT. All four bridges were moved into place over two
weekends and only took a total of 37 hours. UDOT estimates that $2.5 million dollars were
saved by decreasing traffic delays by 180,000 hours. In 2011 the Sam White Bridge in American
Fork, UT was the largest bridge in the world to be moved with a SPMT. “We moved a bridge
that is 354 feet which is analogous to a football field with both end zone,” said UDOT
Construction Manager, Robert Stewart.
Many historians believe that the fall of Rome came because of the deterioration of their
roads. The Romans had the best and most powerful armies at the time and were made more
powerful by their roads. With paved roads the soldiers weren’t subjected to mud and were able to
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hold heavy traffic and therefor were able to move much faster. “As a result, armies could
progress twenty- five miles a day, even in inclement weather conditions, rapidly reaching distant
areas in which unrest had been reported. Knowledge of the army’s ability to achieve this was
itself often a major deterrent to the development of hostilities” (Thompson). Having an efficient
road system also contributed to the economic stability of Rome, allowing goods to be traded
easily and quickly. Though not the only reason for the fall of Rome, some historians partially
blame deterioration of their roads. When roads were left in disrepair cities could not be
maintained without goods from the farms, trade and business began to disappear.
Like Rome, our roads and bridges are vital to our fast paced lifestyle and strength of our
economy. Not being able to perform tasks and jobs quickly and efficiently will grind our fast
paced economy to a halt. Hopefully the government will take action with the problems at hand.
I’m afraid that funding will not be available and that the roads will continue to decay, slowing
our economy. Just one of the high risk dams breaking would be catastrophic not just because of
the death toll and the billions of dollars in damages but also the loss of major cities’ businesses,
damaging our economy further.
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Works Cited
ABC, March 27 2011, “UDOT makes history with Sam White Bridge move” www.abc4.com
CBS, Aug 20 2007, “Wolf Creek Dam is in Trouble” http://www.newschannel5.com
Durk, Byron, Oct 7 2010, “America’s Dying Infrastructure-Dams” http://suite101.com
Nelder, Chris, Oct 3 2011, “The Silent Infrastructure Crisis” HTTP://www.Smartplanet.com
Thompson, Logan, 1997, “Roman Roads” http://www.historytoday.com/logan-thompson/romanroads
USDOT, Oct 2010 “States Across the Country Implement Accelerated Bridge Construction”
www.dot.gov