If they could not scare up the scratch even to maintain the first one, what are the chances of building a new one? And of them maintaining that one?<p>That said, the I-35 bridge in Minnesota could have been maintained, but was re-built at ruinous expense. Is the new one now maintained properly? Or does it need less maintenance?<p>Apparently the old one was built with certain metal plates that were too thin by half, such that had they been of sufficient thickness, the abysmal state of maintenance would not have led to wholesale collapse, and we would today still be using the ill-maintained bridge.<p>So maybe collapse is a solution, not a problem? Presumably the money to build a new bridge did not come from the same account as what is used or fails to be used for maintaining bridges. Though maybe that account should be drawn down for maintenance, which would seem a radically better use of the money.<p>The US is in decline. Can it be turned around? Probably not so long as fully half the population is easily persuaded to throw its full-throated support behind an out-and-out grifter for its chief executive office.