Maintenance is Not Sexy
On his Sunday late night talk show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the host explains why infrastructure is falling apart (video can be found here).
In a nutshell:
> People enjoy going to the movies to see mega-infrastructure disasters.
dailytelegraph.com.au
> Politicians enjoy using very large scissors to cut ribbons at opening day ceremonies, but do not enjoy the mundane funding for maintenance of existing infrastructure.
sugarhill.com
/> In Pittsburgh, a bridge was built below a crumbling bridge, the purpose being to catch falling debris (this was taken from a 60 Minutes segment on deteriorating bridges).
Greenfield Street Bridge - pittsburghmagazine.com
> Everyone agrees that infrastructure is failing and must be fixed. No one agrees on how to pay for it.
The segment ends with a mock drama about maintenance. The star and hero is a bearded bridge inspector who calmly tackles all the bad news while stoically going about his business. As far as I know, this is the first time a bridge inspector has been presented as the dramatic hero.
taranakoplak.blogspot.com
This is one funny, barbed show that pulls no punches in between the one liners. It is must-see TV for everyone working in infrastructure, and everyone who is counting on infrastructure not collapsing on them.