A bridge that crosses the Yellowstone River in Montana collapsed, plunging a freight train carrying hot asphalt and molten sulfur into the rushing water below. No injuries were reported. Officials shut down drinking water intakes downstream while they evaluated the danger from the accident Saturday morning. Railroad crews were at the scene near the town of Columbus, about 40 miles west of Billings. The river was swollen with recent heavy rains although it is unclear whether that contributed to the bridge collapse. The Yellowstone saw record flooding in 2022 that caused extensive damage to Yellowstone National Park and adjacent towns in Montana.
We’ve been warning about dangerous infrastructure for years now. It’ll only get worse until we start building for the next millennium.
Sure, and that future likely involves a lot of trains.
I want super high speed rail instead of airplanes. I want regular high speed rail instead of highways. I want medium speed rail instead of roads. And so on. The technology is there, and we already have the land for most of it, we just need to stop building so many roads and actually build solid rail infrastructure.
Agreed.
I live in the Bay Area and because of my anxiety I can’t drive, but I can get to most places I need to be by BART/light rail.
it’s just one mode of transportation. In Japan also have a comprehensive bus system as well as small towns you can only get by car which rail trains use to service in the 1900s.
People will still have cars. We’ll still have roads and their big dick trucks. I don’t understand how this is a bad idea. LA to Vegas high speed would have been amazing. I lived in oak hills by the 15 seeing the traffic and how many people die on the pass due to car accidents was just horrifying.
I’d rather fly.
Sure, that should be an option too!
If you visit Europe or Japan, you’ll find that trains and airplanes both exist, and both are popular and inexpensive. That’s what I’d like to see happen elsewhere in the world as well, rely less on personal vehicles and more on mass transit, though preserve each as an option.
I guess we’re fucked then
Yeah, I agree. It’s not hard to build infrastructure that lasts forever, it’s just no one wants to pay for it.
I would gladly pay for it. Unfortunately most of us that would gladly pay for it can’t afford to pay for it. And the people that could afford to pay for it don’t get rich by spending their own money. They want everyone else to spend their money on it so they can use it for free.
What is the reason why no one wants pay for it?
To build that infrastructure, an increase in taxes will be needed. The middle and lower tax brackets can’t afford any additional taxes at this time, so that leaves corporations and the upper tax brackets that will need to foot the bill. They don’t want that, so they pay to have campaigns of ignorance blasted at the masses to induce fear of any tax reform.
At the end of the day, nothing gets fixed and the wealthy keep their money.
Or things get fixed at 10x what the actual costs should be because the people who award the contract are paid with part of that excess and it helps them keep the seat that allows them to continue funneling money.