BRIDGE LIVES MATTER

     Even as the verminous American Media continues its gloomy economic prognostications for Western countries, the Chinese Government announced the completion of a major bridge spanning the Amur River. The new bridge was a joint project with Russia and joined the two countries. Today, the Blagoveshchensk-Heihe Bridge opened for commercial traffic. At 3,600 feet long, it is longer than any bridge built in the United States since 1979. There haven't been any comparable ones constructed here in almost 15 years.

    “China is willing to continue to offer mutual support to Russia on issues concerning our core interests such as sovereignty and security, intensify strategic coordination between the two countries, and strengthen communication and coordination in major international and regional organizations such as the United Nations, BRICS, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.” President Xi Jinping stated.

   The causeway across the Amur is not even the longest bridge in China. China owns 8 of the world's 10 longest bridges---all of which were constructed within the last 20 years. It is estimated that over one million tons of goods will cross the bridge annually. The economic gain to both nations will offset the investment within only a few years.

   Meanwhile, here in the Prozac Nation, the American Society of Civil Engineers has---as it has been doing for several years now---warned against the deterioration of US bridges and our infrastructure in general. 

  "There are more than 617,000 bridges across the United States. Currently, 42% of all bridges are at least 50 years old, and 46,154, or 7.5% of the nation’s bridges, are considered structurally deficient, meaning they are in “poor” condition. Unfortunately, 178 million trips are taken across these structurally deficient bridges every day."

   The States with the most structurally unsafe bridges are Rhode Island (23%); West Virginia (21%); Iowa (19%); South Dakota (17%); Pennsylvania (16%); Maine (13%); Louisiana (13%); North Dakota (11%); Michigan (11%); Oklahoma (11%); and New York (10%). Nine other States are within a few more failing structures of making 10% as well. In Puerto Rico, only 19% of bridges are rated in Good Condition. All of these bridges are still in use, incidentally. 

   Mississippi, for example, would have a higher score except that the Trump Administration closed over 400 bridges in the state because of inspection failures. These particular bridges were constructed with timber piles---a decidedly pre-20th Century technology which though picturesque is incapable of carrying modern traffic. California finished second in number of bridge closures. In the same time period that China constructed most of its major bridges, the US has experienced 23 major bridge collapses. 

   The Trump Administration made infrastructure upgrades a key goal and a report in 2018 concluded that nearly a quarter million US bridges were in need of repair and that 46,000 were in critical condition. But Orange Man Bad: Americans decided instead to panic over a flu outbreak and Trump couldn't get an infrastructure program passed even through a Republican-controlled Congress. Most Ameroboobs of course know nothing about America's bridges and could care less. But it is an important issue for reasons even beyond safety concerns.

  For example, having decent infrastructure drastically reduces shipping costs. These unsafe and obsolete bridges often have weight restrictions which force carriers either to take longer routes or break down large shipments into smaller vehicles. Many small towns cannot invest in factories or large processing plants because of prohibitive shipping rates. The ASCE Report also notes:

   "Outside of direct safety concerns, posted bridges can dramatically increase driving time for larger vehicles such as school buses, ambulances, fire trucks, and delivery trucks, in addition to interstate trucking. In rural areas, posted bridges can prohibit the passage of emergency service vehicles, which can slow response time and impede rescue efforts."

   It's noteworthy that response times to major emergencies like wildfires and storms has slackened considerably; but few in the MSM note that delays caused by potentially impassible bridges are a significant factor. The report adds:

  "There are still over 94,000 bridges nationwide with inadequate vertical or horizontal clearances or inadequate approach roadway geometry. Such bridges do not serve current traffic demand or meet current standards, and many of these bridges act as bottlenecks, increasing congestion and crash vulnerability due to inadequate widths, lanes, or shoulders, substandard vertical clearance, or insufficient lanes for traffic demand."

   As bad as these numbers are, they may not tell the whole story since bridge inspections are currently running between 12-48 months behind schedule. Most bridges are designed for 50 years of use; the current median age of America's bridges stand at 69 years. The phony Build Back Better scheme proposed by the Junta doesn't address the problem---MSM propaganda to the contrary. The Elites are categorically opposed to strengthening private transportation.

   This is not to say, of course, that Americans themselves aren't investing in vitally important technologies,

    ...or concerned with deeply significant social issues. The top news story on Google search engine today informs us that: "Despite what TikTok may have you believe, Zendaya is not pregnant." Thankfully, the Tech Lords and Media Moguls are out there fighting that fake news! Hopefully Zendaya doesn't travel the 580 Bridge in her hometown of Oakland; because it's on the Top Ten List of California's most structurally-deficient bridges. 

     Looking at Zendaya's boyfriend, I'm not sure why anyone would imagine that he has sufficient Testosterone to impregnate anyone, but we digress. Like the vast majority of America's problems, our crumbling infrastructure is one mostly of our own making. Americans' complete lack of concern with any issue outside of their own selfish interests doesn't make constructing or upgrading bridges much of a priority. Infrastructure hasn't factored in any so-called 'key issue' polling in almost ten years. 

   So, before we start pointing the finger at China and boasting of our 'exceptionalism' we ought to remember that the Chinese aren't paying exorbitant shipping costs, or getting emergency vehicles stuck in traffic jams, or at being at regular risk of falling into rivers while on routine trips. But at least we are exceptional when it comes to avoiding Reality.