Our infrastructure of bridges

 

Fortunately structurally deficient bridges usually don't collapse, but they do cause us to pay more for things we buy when those things reach our stores by truck.  When these bridges are not properly maintained, their weight-bearing capabilities are reduced and the government lowers the weight restrictions on the bridge.  This means that the delivery truck has to find a new route to reach your store. That new route is longer with the result that trucking costs increase.  We pay these higher costs. The costs are not only monetary; we'd prefer that the big trucks stay on roads built for them.

One of nine bridges in this country have been declared structurally deficient.  Kansas leads in the number of these bridges, it has 6,853.  The Federal Highway Administration estimates that it will take $76 billion to repair deficient bridges that carry 260 million vehicles each day.
Will we make that investment as a nation or will we continue to pay extra for the things we buy?