We can't paint them all with the same brush of course. That is what usually happens, on such an awful incident as this. Such tragedies do create a catalyst which holds engineers and safety inspectors accountable for their decisions. As long as it doesn't create fear mongering.
What if Oprah does a show on it? (or has she already?) "Our Nation's Bridges". People everywhere will be scared to leave the house.
They are building a new floating bridge over Okanagan Lake in Kelowna. The old one is too small for the traffic pressures, as it was built several decades ago. It will be money well spent provided it is done right.
I have also heard that the Lion's Gate in Vancouver is in need of attention, which kind of creeps me out. Because of the Fraser River, Vancouver has alot of freeway bridges. What a great target for terrorism too.

It's fun to be able to add to my list of reasons for living on the prairies! Today's reason ~ not too many bridges!! Actually where I live the bridges are so small they are called culverts LOL!!
I noticed on the news that Saskatoon has initiated a serious examination of the five bridges in their city. Those five bridges probably make them the city with the most bridges in Saskatchewan. When we build traffic interchanges there is enough dirt to build them solidly ~ no bridges to get us over the other roads. And when a traffic jam at rush hour will hold you up about ten minutes in either of our "major" cities there is really no reason to create bridges so that cars can travel over cars in the rush to leave the city.
Seriously, I think this whole infrastructure problem is one that is so huge that no one wants to talk about it. And we have added to our problems by changing the way we do things with little or no thought as to the impact on that infrastructure. For example, we have changed from moving freight by truck rather than by rail without much thought about the impact of that change on roads and bridges. Here in Saskatchewan we are paying a high price for the change from trucking grain to urban collection centres rather than sending it by rail from rural collection points. The struggle to keep our roads passable, let alone safe, is an ongoing one.
In my most pessimistic moments I find myself thinking about the fall of empires and wonder if the 'western world' is on its way!

Trouble is, I'd bet most municipal governement want to "cross that bridge when they get there" sadly...But..I know of engineers who have been fired for saying the proper thing about a structure or a building process even though they know the truth. I'd bet a bridge gets less votes than a hospital or a new layer of pavement outside your "pet businesspersons" door. If you ask anyone with "some" knowledge they'd likely say the bridge sways this way or that way coz it is built to do that allowing for some give-and-take in movements, but i'd hate to be the person hearing that first snap of concrete before a huge collapse. They should be independently inspected if that is possible.

I can relate to that. Many of our intersections only got a much-needed overhaul when someone with money bought property up the hill for developing. In another case, four-way stop signs were put in at an intersection AFTER a boy on a bike got hit by a car, dragged, and then died later in hospital.

I'd like to see the federal and provincial governments propose a massive infrastructure plan for our country. Heck, you could even incorporate environmentally-friendly building materials and energy-saving technologies to help sell it to the taxpayers! If envisioned properly, I suspect such a plan could really do wonders to give our country a focus and renew our pride. Bring it on!

The reality of bridge construction is such that most were designed with a limited life span before major work was to occur on them. Many bridges across Canada were constructed after WW2 when our population was expanding and we were starting to put serious pressure on our infrastructure system. Bridges in Canada that are over 50 years old need serious examination and or repair, not just the decking but the sub-structure. This will only occur when we have some major deaths, then the governments will sit up and look at the problem.

We can't forget about the bridge collapse in China, a great deal more people died in that one than in Minnesota. Every life is equal and important; however, it appears that those of us that live in North America are living on a higher level.

Is our world messed up or just the media.

ALL THE BEST, peace