Infrastructure

What happens when crucial maintenance is deferred. From the Washington Post:

Billions needed to upgrade America�s leaky water infrastructure
At first glance, the pizza-size hole that popped open when a heavy truck passed over a freshly paved District street seemed fairly minor.

Then city inspectors got on their bellies with a flashlight to peer into it. What they discovered has become far too common. A massive 19th-century brick sewer had silently eroded away, leaving a cavern beneath a street in Adams Morgan that could have swallowed most of a Metro bus.

It took three weeks and about a million dollars to repair the sewer, which was built in 1889.

A bit more:

Rapidly deteriorating roads and bridges may stifle America�s economy and turn transportation headaches into nightmares, but if the nation�s water and sewer systems begin to fail, life as we know it will too. Without an ample supply of water, people don�t drink, toilets don�t flush, factories don�t operate, offices shut down and fires go unchecked. When sewage systems fail, cities can�t function and epidemics break out.

Some more:

The average D.C. water pipe is 77 years old, but a great many were laid in the 19th century. Sewers are even older. Most should have been replaced decades ago.

Emergency crews rush from site to site to tackle an average of 450 breaks a year.

Raw sewage flows into the Potomac, the Anacostia and Rock Creek whenever it rains hard � hundreds of times a year � an annual flush of about 3 billion gallons, according to D.C. Water.

And of course it's all about the Benjamin's:

The price of water, always far below commodities like electricity and gasoline, can be expected to rise dramatically as the demand taxes the systems that deliver it, analysts agree.

This is a perfect example of why politicians should never poke their noses into the real world. When these systems were installed, there were probably some fantastic guidelines for preventative maintenance and scheduled replacement. The monies to do this were probably earmarked but they got "borrowed" to pay for something else -- some pet project of whomever was in power at that time. Now that the maintenance is way overdue, it is the present generation that has to scramble to make repairs. Where I live, there is a small water cooperative that services a couple hundred households. The water quality is excellent and we are very proactive about repairs and maintenance. One of the requirements from WA State is that we maintain enough cash reserves to replace the biggest part of the system (our 80,000 gallon water tank). The idea that the government should force this requirement on us but not larger cities shows where the political power lies. I have no problem with this requirement but the larger municipalities should be able to manage their own burden without interference. Be sure to check out the 400+ comments -- a wonderful exhibition of clueless moonbattery for the most part...