I know bridge designers, I work with bridge designers, and Ed Schultz, you are no bridge designer.
Posted at 2:03 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2007, in Uncategorized, and tagged misc.
I wanted to make a few brief comment on the bridge collapse that occurred yesterday, specifically the left-wing radio coverage of the event.
I had the unfortunate opportunity to listen to Ed Schultz while driving this afternoon, and I want Mr. Schultz to realize something. This bridge collapse was not the fault of an idealogical divide. This bridge collapse was not, I repeat, was not the fault of republicans.
If the government had spent 1 billion dollars more this year on infrastructure, it would not have necessarily saved this bridge. The design and construction of bridges, bridge replacements and bridge retrofits take years, up to and exceeding a decade.
Additionally, bridges are not built with 40 years of design life. This happened as a result of a bad design. This was poor construction. This was a lot of things. And the very many liberals and the conservatives in the state of Minnesota write the bills, they do not design or build the structures.
I am an engineer. I have worked on bridge designs, in areas with a greater amount of engineering issues — earthquakes, liquefaction, soft compressible soils. Bridges are not designed for only today’s loads. Bridges are designed for future loads, with safety factors, and the deterioration of the bridge over its lifespan is also taken into account. Or it should.
It is not the fault of the legislature; it is the fault of the engineers. Bridges need to be maintained, bridges need to be retrofitted. This collapse could have occurred tomorrow, it could have occurred last year.
Ed Schultz, I am a liberal, more liberal than you. And you exemplified vile behavior today. I want you to shut up, and go away. This is not a political issue, please do not make it one.
(I should note that Ed Schultz is arguably not the brightest guy in the world, but that doesn’t give him a free pass on the radio.)
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August 7th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I appreciate your comments, especially from your professional point of view. It’s simply irresponsible to try to blame the tragedy solely on ideology, politics, budgets, or the price of tea in China. Instead, it’s appropriate to look at the design of the bridge and its maintenance to see what really happened. A tragedy doesn’t have to become worse with false accusations of blame.
August 7th, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Yes, I was very disappointed in my party for turning the event into a political football, and so soon.