(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Remember when a bridge collapsed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the same day that President Joe Biden visited the state to give a speech about how important the bipartisan infrastructure bill is?
Well, after touting the bill as a solution to collapsing bridges and crumbling roads, it turns out that the infrastructure bill wouldn’t actually have stopped the bridge from collapsing had it been passed sooner. Even though the president vowed to fix “all” bridges in the country, the legislation doesn’t actually have provisions for this.
Fox Business revealed how the 2021 Transportation Improvement program in the city of Pittsburgh had established a list of infrastructure projects that required and would receive federal funding. The Forbes Avenue bridge that collapsed, however, was not on that list.
So no matter what President Joe Biden says about it, the infrastructure legislation that passed with support from both parties wouldn’t have stopped this tragedy.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, or the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” is described by the White House as a “once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure and competitiveness.”
So why wasn’t the bridge on the list? Well, it all comes down to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s rating system, which rates bridges between 0 and 9, with 9 representing “excellent” condition. The Forbes Avenue bridge that collapsed had a rating of 4, both for the superstructure and deck. The substructure, however, had a rating of 6. That meant the bridge had an overall score of four. The bridge is also more than 50 years old, having been built in 1970.
Members of the NTSB go-team examine collapsed Forbes Avenue bridge Saturday in Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/Slo2KPz2gE
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 29, 2022
The bridge was not rated highly, but it also wasn’t one of the worst.
It means that the United States probably needs an even greater amount of cash spent on improving infrastructure…but it’s unclear where that cash will come from. Especially with a stagnating economy and rising inflation…
