Bridge It

The big story this week has been the collapse of an over pass in Montreal. Several people were killed. It's raised some questions about the safety of our roads and bridges in Canada. My family has operated a small civil engineering firm that builds bridges around Ontario for the past 12 years. Are our bridges safe? For the most part they are. I can at least say the ones we've built are with a spotless MTO record to back that up.
However, there are some inherant flaws in our infrastructive. They come in the form of poor work by government engineers, shoddy construction by shiftless companies, and a lack of funding for road repair.

Canada's roads are simply a disgrace. I've been to second and third world countries in the Caribbean and Latin America that have better roads then we do. I'm not making that up. Are highways are crumbling. They are maintained by simple patchwork and shotcrete that simply holds them together for just a little longer. Governments will do anything to put off work. I've seen some bridges that look like they've been through a war zone. Harsh Canadian winters, heavy vehicles, and overuse of road salt take their toll on steel, concrete, and asphalt. Government engineers just seem to turn a blind eye to these problems. When bridges are slated to be worked on, they often do not know what needs to be done or how to go about it. They rely on contractors to do that. Unfortunately, some contractors are shiftless. They cut corners and bid work too cheap. Governments just do not seem to view roadwork as important, or any form of transit for that matter.

This is the kind of topic I could write a book about, but lets cut to the chase. How do we solve it.
Well first, we need to send %100 of the gas tax into road work. Not the 10% that governments are currently offering. The biggest mistake governments made was putting gas taxes into general revenue. Once they did that, little of the money went to where it was supposed to go.
Bridges also need more frequent, more thorough inspections. MTO engineers claim they inspect them at least once a month, but they do not. In reality, inspections are probably carried out once a year, if that. Number three, competant contractors should be rewarded and shiftless ones should be kept a closer eye on. Governments should only rely on contractors to do the work, not to figure out how to do it. Better engineers need to be hired and there must be better communication in engineering departments and with contractors.