23% of South Carolina bridges substandard: $3-billion needed for fix.

[DemoTex]

Cross-posted from GD

South Carolina faces its own challenges concerning bridges as the nation mourns after a bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

One in five bridges in South Carolina are substandard, though the state has no bridges of the steel girder span that collapsed Wednesday.

State Department of Transportation Director Buck Limehouse said about 1,033 bridges in South Carolina are structurally deficient and 776 others are functionally obsolete, meaning they don't meet current federal standards, though they aren't considered to be unsafe.

Limehouse said it would take $2.9 billion to fix all of the state's bridges, money that he said the state doesn't have. (More ..)

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/...

Maybe Lindsey Graham is spending too much time buying rugs in Baghdad (5 rugs/$5!) and Jim DeMint is spending too much time with his pal Vitter to take care of the needs of SC.

Perhaps Graham and DimWit's fundy friends in the upstate, especially the BoJos, can heal those bridges through prayer and the laying of hands. Lindsey could even supply a few prayer rugs. DimWit and Vitter could supply .. well, never mind.

Edit: Changed % to agree with ASME. Added report card below.

ASCE State-By-State Report Card (thanks to Bleedingheart!):
http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/states.cfm

[KoKo]

1. Okay...sorry the posters on your thread got deleted in move but Buck Limehouse?

had to go over here to mention that name. But, Charlestonian DU'ers would jump if it was out there!

[KoKo]

2. So what's really going on in SC Politics...assume you are in Greeville.

Is Lindsey taking a hit for his support of Bush? Are people beginning to turn on him? Isn't there a big Toyota Plant in Greenville? Is Greenville BIG on GLOBILIZATION? What since Toyota have they brought in for the workers? :shrug:

[China_cat]

3. You know they had to start repairs on the Ravenel bridge

in Charleston, don't you? The one that's only 2 years old? The one they finished a whole year AHEAD of schedule.