The Little Bridge That Couldn't

The Little Bridge That Couldn't

get built... My neighborhood is quite isolated from the world at large by a small mill pond with a tiny brook. A small, crumbling bridge used to run over the brook. The bridge span could not have been more than 30 feet long and 20 feet wide. The 200 residents of my condo community and the hundreds of other neighbors were dismayed to hear that the proposed bridge replacement might take up to 2 years. “What the %%$#@!”, we thought in unison “How can so tiny a bridge take so long?”. The construction story provides object lessons in poor planning, incompetence and the need for regulation.

Removal of the old bridge proceeded quite quickly. The private contractors hired by the state show knowledge of and sensitivity to issues raised by working in wetlands. They took all the appropriate measures to ensure a proper balance between getting the job done and protecting the environment. Or so we thought.

Construction of the new bridge structures proceeded in fits and starts. The contractors seemed to be on permanent coffee break. So much for private business work being conducted more efficiently than work run directly by the government. I am a regulator familiar with many such bridge replacements and have never seen one move so slow.

A storm came along. Not a big storm, but it dumped about 1 ½ inches of rain overnight. The little mill pond just about doubled in area. The stream picked up speed. The increased area of a flood is termed the “flood plain”. The storm was intense enough to be categorized as a “25 year event”. That means a storm of that size was likely to occur once every 25 years.

The sad little bridge under construction suffered severe damage from this very likely, quite small event. The extent of damage meant the bridge work had to be completely redone. However, all work was stopped until the state and private contractor figured out what had gone wrong.

The cause of the problem was easily determined. The contractor had failed to develop construction plans that accounted for a 100 year flood event. That means that the likelihood of a much bigger flood was once every 100 years. This more rainfall and a much bigger floodplain. In fact, it meant a storm that was about as likely as Hurricane Katrina. Planning for 100 year events is an absolute and well known absolute standard for any structure in a floodplain. There was no excuse for using a lesser factor in construction of this little bridge.

The bridge is finally nearing completion using the correct construction standards for this floodplain. Soon, I will not have to drive an extra 15 to 20 miles per day to go about my business.

There some lessons here. First, regulation is often necessary to ensure public safety. Second, well known regulations do not usually contribute to inefficient business practices. Third, failure to follow regulations does result in inefficiency and increased costs. Fourth, the social cost of regulation could be debated endlessly. However, examples like Katrina and my little bridge demonstrate the the social costs of faulty project engineering.