The day after the bridge collapse in Minnesota, an article in the San Jose Mercury News reported that Caltrans claims the bridges in the San Francisco Bay area to be safe.

While I have a lot of respect for Caltrans, I don’t actually find that very reassuring.  I suspect that if the officials in Minnesota had been asked a week before the collapse, they would have stated that their bridge was safe.

On the other hand, the bridges in the bay area do get a lot of scrutiny for seismic safety.

Politicians are quick to spend money to build new bridges and other infrastructure, but there always seems to be a shortfall of funds for maintenance.  I’ve heard one person propose that the government should not build any new infrastructure without establishing an endowment for maintenance.  While that might be a good idea, I doubt it will ever happen.  People want to get new things built now and as inexpensively as possible, and let the future worry about maintenance.