Texas Bridge Bureaucrats Say "Trust Us"
State officials insist that all 50,000 bridges in Texas are completely safe.Well, if they say it, it must be true, right?
Why harbor doubts about tens of thousands of bridges out there dealing with an essentially random and rules-disregarding amount of traffic crossing them every day? Why be concerned over bridges that sit out in the sun, rain, heat, cold, and remain generally accessible to all sorts of human mischief? Why should we raise questions about a transportation lynchpin that is funded, planned, executed, and maintained through political means, subject to the shifting sands of policy and the influence of industry, privilege, and parochial interests? Why even have the temerity to note human fallibility, a universal condition that affects any project and can send any plan awry?
Everything is completely safe because we said so. If something wasn't safe, we'd tell you because we'd know it. We know everything there is to know because we'd be doing a bad job if we didn't. Q.E.D.
Nothing to see here. Move along, please.