77,000 bad bridges X 100 good paying jobs per bridge= national unemployment reducing job creation.

[Union Yes]

Did you know..

77,000 bridges all across this great land are deemed by the US DEPT of Transportation as 'structurally deficient'(SD)?

Many/most of these bridges were built in the 1930's - 1950's.

Many of these bridges will need to be replaced. Many of them can be repaired.

What's an SD bridge?

The I-35 bridge in Minneapolis, Mn was a SD bridge. In a split second, without warning the I-35 bridge gave way and collapsed. Plunging 70 feet into the Mississippi river, killing 13 people.

The I-35 bridge was deemed structurally deficient in 1990. It collapsed 17 years later in 2007.

The I-35 corridor runs straight through the heart of Minneapolis. A vital transportation route, vital to the local economy. Within days of the collapse it had already cost the local economy over $1 BILLION. Within days!

Bridges are as vital to our infrastructure as the roads/streets that we drive on.

Is that bridge safe?

OK enough fear mongering.

Replacing these bridges all across America will be a massive undertaking. Almost on a scale of when we built the Interstate Highway system. It will require a commitment to our nation.

WHEN THE F*** WAS THE LAST TIME THAT WE MADE A COMMITMENT TO OUR NATION?

President Obama made a nice attempt at making that commitment with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, often referred to as his economic stimulus package.

Pres Obama deserves praise and credit for that law. It still is an investment in rebuilding America's infrastructure. ARRA of 2009 might have saved our economy, at least it appears that way. ARRA was a nice start but a mear band aid on the overall problem. We still have an infrastructure in a state of crisis.

In my opinion, ARRA of 2009 was a progressive law that has done good. Exactly what it was intended to do. Create jobs and repair our infrastructure. Pres Obama deserves credit and a salute for that law.

But we're still left with a huge problem..

These bridges ain't getting any younger and they don't repair themselves.

At this time, we're experiencing another national crisis: MASS UNEMPLOYMENT

Jobs and job creation vs unemployment will be leading factors in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

At a time when millions of Americans are desperate for work, job creation should be a central theme to Democratic party politics and policymaking.

My OP title is my best estimate. I'm certainly no expert. But to me it sounds reasonable that replacing each bridge would on AVERAGE create 100 jobs per bridge. Construction jobs, Building materials manufactured and trucked in, new construction machinery bought equals job creation. Even with smaller bridges. Some of our nation's larger bridges would each require hundreds of workers to repair/replace.

77,000 X 100 = 7.7 million. Now, it'd be silly to expect this massive undertaking to happen all at once. The amount of money to fund that simply doesn't exist. But, we could certainly get off to a good start by making another massive investment in repairing America's bridges and a focus on all of our infrastructure.

It's time for an ARRA part 2. We need another massive investment in rebuilding our nation. Infrastructure repair might pull our nation out of the economic slump we're mired in. If our leaders are willing to make a commitment to rebuilding.

A few other examples of job creation..

Mass transit. America will soon regret it's limited mass transit system. As oil prices once again creep upward. Mass transit choices and availability can help break our addiction to oil. Building a mass transit system worthy of the so called wealthiest nation could create much needed jobs.

Electrical grid. Remember the blackouts in the northeast?

Solar, wind and other clean power generating technology.

Overall, infrastructure repair could be our nation's path to economic recovery but we need a commitment from Pelosi, Reid, and the President.

If you think this is all hot air then please remember..

Our bridges ain't getting any younger.

:patriot:

[TwixVoy]

1. Good idea, but can't be the only solution

First of all a large number of the unemployed do NOT have the skills to fix bridges.

Furthermore what you propose is creation of a bunch of TEMP jobs with no benefits such as health insurance that would last a few months at absolute most.

While I think your idea and other related ideas are good we still need LONG TERM diverse job creation in this country STAT.

Many on DU like to argue with me that the recovery is in full swing. This is one of the major reasons I believe we are in a complete fake wall street recovery. From 1999-present there has been ZERO job growth. Wages have not kept up. Health care has still NOT been fixed and clearly won't be this decade. Unions continue to be screwed over. And americans continue to become more in debt to banks every day.

I am afraid that there is little time left to fu** around. It is a shame ideas such as yours will be ignored by the powers that be. What most on DU don't realize is that the powers in Washington really don't give a damn about them. The fact Obama continues to cater to corporate interests tells me the problem won't be getting any better this ENTIRE decade. (I expect Obama to be a 2 term president)

Will things get better come 2008 and beyond? ONLY if both the republicans AND democrats get kicked out of power.... and I only see that happening if we enter a full scale depression by then.

[comtec]

12. Do yo uwant a part time job or NO job?!

Lets be realistic, those are the choices lately.
People can be trained, weeded through.
There are plenty of ditch digger jobs that are needed that require low skill/training.
Government jobs tend to pay well, and have health benefits.
Bridges take YEARS to build and tear down safely.
A temp job that will probably last 1-2 years is a good job!
in most states once you hit a magic number of hours a week mandatory, your employer M U S T give you benefits.
perhaps these gov jobs will only have medicare offered to them for medical.

It's really pessimistic to suggest that "just temp jobs" are not worth taking.

It must be nice to never have to had to dig around for change so you can put gas in your car so you can get to work.
NEVER to have had to scrounge to pay for a single bit of ramen noodles.

god what a fucking charmed life you must have to be able to just toss aside the value of a temp job.

[Uben]

2. Shoulda been done a year ago!

The first thing Obama should have done is create thousands of jobs by investing in infrastructure instead of giving money to the banks. When people can't work, they can't spend and they can't pay bills or taxes.
Congress doesn't seem to remember who pays their salary. You know, the pittance they receive for their work, instead of the boon they receive from special interests. WHen are we going to insist that lobbyists cannot buy congressmen? As long as it is allowed, the lobbyists will bribe them, and the congressmen will take it. Until we outlaw bribes, and that is what they are, we are screwed.

[SpartanDem]

4. Ever hear of the stimulus bill

aka the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that invested hundreds of billions in infrastructure? The thing that is credited with turning an economy that was losing 700K jobs a month into one that lost 11,000 last month?

[AllentownJake]

7. That talking point is starting to make me laugh

Honestly, when you go through a contraction, eventually it gets to a point where everyone cuts too much. 2010 and 2011 will show whether the stimulus bill worked based on what the economy looks like in recovery, not the fact the earth stopped falling apart.

[SpartanDem]

8. So we'd be in the same situation today without it?

the CBO doesn't seem to think so and the only people only who seem to disagree is the GOP. Any economist with half a brain will tell you the 1 the stimulus has worked and 2. that we need more of it so the only talking point is the rightwing one you're putting out.

Even After CBO Reports Stimulus Created Up To 1.6 Million Jobs, Conservatives Claim It ‘Failed’

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/03/gop-cbo-stimulus/

Mitt Romney says recovery due to "private sector" not Obama's stimulus

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/mitt-romney-says-recovery-private-sector-obamas-stimulus/

[AllentownJake]

9. If you throw 700 billion dollars at an economy,

The economy will temporarily grow. The test of it's effectiveness will be when you don't have 700 billion dollars to maintain it, if the gains stay the same.

If I take a 50,000 loan out, I'll temporarily be wealthier, the test is whether, after the 50,000 is gone, I spent it on things that improve my lot later.

[SpartanDem]

10. Yes that will be it's ultimate test

that still doesn't mean that it hasn't worked and improved our current situation as the contraction would be worse without it. The whole point in spending that $700 billion was was to grow the economy, so I just find it a bit mind boggling when during the first few months people said it to be total failure and then dismiss the growth it does create because it is not "real".

[AllentownJake]

11. The current situation doesn't trouble me

I'm 30, I plan to be in this country for a while, I can live through some tough times. I want to make sure that if I ever decide to have children, I have something in the form of a nation to give them, and I want to make sure my friends children right now, have the opportunity to pursue happiness in the economic sense.

I'm looking and more concerned where a majority of the money went. We'll see what the results are later.

[whyverne]

14. The money would be gone only to you, Jake

This is the most common economic misunderstanding of the the average American. That when you spend money, it's gone. Gertrude said it best, "The money is always there, only the pockets change".

I think the most effective and most fun stimulus would be to find the dregs of society, the bums, the drunks, the junkies, the mentally challenged. Give them all $5000. That money would roar through the economy like a tsunami. Those people would spend it so fast that everyone would get a taste and tax revenues would soar.

But that would drive most people crazy. Americans would rather see the country go down the toilet than see even one person get a dollar that they "don't deserve".

Do you know that studies show that the government actually makes money by giving out food stamps? It's a working stimulus program. But try to convince the average person that it's a good thing.

Money has the most value when it is moving. The poor and middle class move it much faster than the rich.

[AllentownJake]

15. Money moves one way in the American economy

Up.

I'm glad to see we've embraced bread and circus economics. At the end of the day, you need to produce something to give the food stamps.

[whyverne]

19. Right, money goes up. That's why the liberals invented money

redistribution. A term that so many hate. Take the money from the top of the pyramid and pump it back into the bottom. It worked fine. Everyone gets a taste and the money keeps moving.

Compare that to letting the rich have more money. Where are all the factories and jobs that was supposed to create? The rich invested in hedge funds that don't produce anything except more money for them.

[Hekate]

3. KnR.

[madrchsod]

5. around here--- maybe two years the for iron workers

the 100 year old cement plant in my town has been shut down for over two years. demand cement is a leading economic indicator.

rahm/obama had to bailout the banks and the military while we go jobless and have no money for shelter.

[liberal N proud]

6. Great idea

It should have been top of the stimulus plan, but the corporate lobbyist made sure the financial zealots got theirs before anyone else.

It's not only bridges! Water and sewer systems need to be upgraded, power grids are aging.

Take a page from history, build a railroad, build the nations first transcontinental high speed rail system. Think of the number of people they could put to work on a system like that.

Everyone could be put to work in this country on infrastructure projects.

[michreject]

13. And what happens when they finish their one bridge?

Just curious.

[piratefish08]

18. I'm sure the unemployed would love a good job for a year or two while they figure out their

next step.

Even a good short term plan is better than anything currently being done.


Unless you own an insurance company..........

[Union Yes]

21. Every bridge is unique, meaning..

some need total replacement, some need heavy repair, some need minor structural repair.

It can take up to 5 years to complete a bridge replacement or repair. Repair usually takes longer than replacement because repair usually means the bridge stays open to traffic while the repairs takes place.

Point is it's safe to say that most bridges will require 1-2 years or more to repair/replace. That's a lot of employment for an unemployed person to look forward to.

Bridges would have to be prioritized. Those most in need of repair done first. A plan like this might take 10-20 years to complete. Think about any urban area in America. I live in Chicago. I bet there are 100-200 bad bridges in the Chicagoland area alone.

Construction workers that finish a bridge project will more than likely have another bridge project awaiting them.

Rural America really isn't so much different.

I grew up in Northern Minnesota. As rural as it gets. Bridges damn near outnumbered people. Almost every bridge where I grew up was built in the 30's and 40's.

So the point is, their work doesn't just end when they complete a bridge project. There is a strong likelihood that there will be another bridge project nearby. Not always the case.

What a plan like this does is buy our economy time and gives our elected leaders time to fix the unemployment debacle while providing perhaps millions of jobs. And fixing that debacle fully will require reform of our "Free" Trade, reimportation regulations not just an investment in infrastructure.

It seems that our only hope is to turn the Dem party more progressive through primary elections and elect a legislative branch that will make investment in America a front burner priority. I'm not counting on much from this class of elected Dems because they've shown us little. ARRA of 2009 was a good start but we need a much more comprehensive plan to repair our entire infrastructure.

Which also helps answer your very valid question. An investment across all of our infrastructure; roads, streets, water, sewer, bridges, rail, light rail, transit, power grid, solar wind and alternative etc.

If a bridge worker ran out of work after his/her job was done then perhaps a job might be available in another local project such as rail, a highway, or replacement of an aging city water system.

This all isn't the perfect answer to your valid question but I hope it helps answer it.

Peace.

[cherokeeprogressive]

26. There is a bridge being built only four miles from my house. Jobs created: ZERO.

The company that was awarded the contract for the new Big Bear Lake Bridge (replacing the old bridge that was actually a roadway built over the back of the dam) is FCI Constructors, Inc., and EVERY ONE of the employees working on the bridge came from existing employees in Colorado and Arizona.

[cbdo2007]

16. That would force people to move to a job near a bridge and do what they aren't trained in

and most of the unemployed here will look down on having to do manual labor.

The unemployed voices here at DU want the perfect job handed to them. They shouldn't have to move to where the jobs are. And they shouldn't have to do a job they don't like. We've tried talking sense in to them like this, but the job seekers just won't up and do what it takes.

[piratefish08]

17. Good plan, but unless you modify it so that it benefits banks and insurance companies,

no one in Washington will look at it.

[KG]

20. heh. i was told infrastructure would be rebuilt back in the '80s with the 'peace dividend'

another GOPer lie.

[Union Yes]

24. Every President in the past 40 years has ignored our aging infrastructure. What a shame that is. nt

[Thothmes]

25. So have the governors of the 50 states that are responsible

for the roads, bridges, and tunnels within their borders.

[Vidar]

22. K&R.

[Ignis]

23. K&R. How about some of that mainstreet stimulus?

How about some fucking JOBS?