The I-35W Tragedy: Making the Unsettling Yet Necessary Connections

The tragic I-35W bridge collapse occurred
within a distinct political and social context.
Mindful of this, many people across the nation
are “making the connections” and, as a result, calling
for a shift in our social and economic priorities.

My friend Mary Lynn had the following letter published in today’s St. Paul Pioneer Press:

George Bush keeps warning us that if we don't “fight them (the terrorists) there, we’ll be fighting them here.” Meanwhile, all of the money we pour down the rat hole purportedly fighting terrorism in Iraq is desperately needed right here at home – to keep us safe from deteriorating infrastructure, among many other screaming necessities.

Whether it is a terrorist attack or a fallen bridge, people are dying here as well as there and will continue to do so as long as this ill-conceived, horribly managed war continues.

Mary Lynn Murphy
St. Paul

I appreciate Mary Lynn’s efforts to “make the connections” between the “war economy” of our nation (most obviously embodied in the U.S. government’s obscenely bloated military budget and the Bush Administration’s invasion and occupation of Iraq) and our nation’s deteriorating civilian infrastructure.

A number of other letter writers (both to the Pioneer Press and the Minneapolis Star Tribune) have highlighted such connections and, accordingly, the need to rethink our priorities with regards to the raising and spending of our tax dollars. For instance, one Oakdale, MN resident wrote:

Bridges fall, roads collapse. But the bridge wasn’t due for major work until later. Hogwash. It was no doubt “scheduled” for later. When budgets are cut, corners are cut, needs are postponed. Action is replaced by prioritized plans. We spend billions of dollars on a suspect foreign war and have only pennies to rebuild and repair our nation’s infrastructure. Which will defeat us? As a state and nation, we are fools if we think we can continue on this course. We have our own war right here at home. If we are to continue to exist as a nation, we must drop this “cut, cut taxes” mantra and repair and rebuild our state and national infrastructure: bridges, roads, water and sewer systems, education and public safety systems. Without these, our society dies.

Fred Matson
Oakdale

Joe Kay, writing for the World Socialist Web Site, digs even deeper.

In an August 2 online commentary, Kay notes that: “The I-35W bridge has been inspected on several occasions over the past six years, and has consistently received poor marks. A 2005 report by the US Department of Transportation found that it was ‘structurally deficient’ and gave the bridge a score of 50. Generally, a score of 50 or below means a bridge may need to be replaced. This particular bridge has been categorized as ‘structurally deficient’ since 1990.”

“Other reports found similar problems,” continues Kay. “A 2001 report by the University of Minnesota Department of Civil Engineering found that there were ‘many poor fatigue details’ that could cause serious problems in the future. However, it concluded that there was no need for immediate action and that ‘replacement of this bridge, and the associated very high cost, may be deferred’.”


Kay also reports that: “Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican, has resisted calls within the state legislature for more spending on infrastructure. On Thursday, he sought to avoid any responsibility by pointing out that the previous reports did not recommend immediate action.”

“The Minneapolis bridge is hardly unique in its structural problems,” says Kay. “The American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) has for years sought to call attention to the decaying national infrastructure. Its infrastructure report card for 2005 concluded: ‘As of 2003, 27.1 percent of the nation’s bridges (160,570) were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete . . .’ The report card gave an overall grade of ‘D’ to public infrastructure, and concluded that $1.6 trillion is needed over a five-year period to address problems with roads, bridges and other systems.”


Kay concludes his commentary with the following analysis – one which, though unsettling, undoubtedly needs to be heard:

For decades, social infrastructure in the US has been starved of resources, even as trillions of dollars have been funneled into the pockets of a small layer of the population. Hundreds of billions are spent every year on the US military, but when it comes to the physical infrastructure and basic social services, adequate funds are never available.

Minnesota was not so long ago considered one of the more socially progressive states in the country. Its politics were dominated by the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, the state’s branch of the Democratic Party. The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul were often cited for maintaining a superior – by American standards – social network, as well as a better-than-average physical infrastructure. In recent years, the remnants of past reform policies have been abandoned in favor of the “free market” and fiscal austerity dogmas that dominate both the Democratic and Republican parties.

An integral part of the economic and social policies that have effectively redistributed the national wealth from the bottom to the top, vastly enriching the uppermost social layers at the expense of the working class and to the detriment of the material foundations of modern society – roads, bridges, levees, water, electricity – is the removal of virtually all legal restrictions and regulations on the profit-making activities of big business. This includes the enforcing of basic safety standards and the monitoring of companies that repair bridges.

In the United States, there is no “erring on the side of safety.” Infrastructure is allowed to decay until it must be replaced, an accident occurs, or there is some business interest involved. This can lead to tragic results. Just last month an underground steam pipe exploded in midtown Manhattan, killing one person and injuring dozens. In 2003, as a result of an overburdened and under-maintained transmission grid, a major blackout cut off power to large sections of the Midwest and Northeast United States, as well as parts of Canada.

The same tendencies were also present two years ago in the virtual destruction of a major American city, New Orleans, in Hurricane Katrina. For all the official talk about “securing the homeland,” the American people are more threatened by the neglect and incompetence of the government and the subordination of all social questions to the enrichment of a financial oligarchy than they are by terrorism.

To read Joe Kay’s commentary in its entirety, click here.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Tragedy in Minneapolis
Questioning God’s Benevolence in the Face of Tragedy

Image 1: Emergency personnel survey the remains of the collapsed I-35W bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 2, 2007. Divers searched for victims submerged in the swirling, murky waters of the Mississippi River on Thursday in what authorities said would be a slow and dangerous recovery operation after the worst U.S. bridge collapse in more than 20 years. (REUTERS/Scott Cohen)

Image 2: The scene of the collapsed I-35W bridge over the Mississippi River, Thursday, August 2, 2007, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Image 3: Rescue workers care for the injured near the remains of the Interstate 35W bridge after it collapsed during the evening rush hour on Wednesday, August 1, 2007. (AP Photo/Tim Davis)

Image 4: A view of the collapsed I-35W bridge (Kyndell Harkness/Star Tribune)