Last week as I was driving to work here in Fort Worth, I marveled at the size of the levees on the Trinity River. As most everyone in this metro area knows, June and July were the wettest months on record. It has rained every week I've been here 6 going on 7 in a row. And yet the Trinity isn't coming anywhere near the halfway point. Rain like this in Los Angeles would turn the LA River into something really frightening. I've seen it up close and it's a scary sight from the First Street Bridge.
Folks in the Midwest have their own tragedy on their hands. As of last count, there are 9 dead and dozens missing in the aftermath of a bridge collapse over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Nobody could see it coming.
Really?
With any luck, August First can be somebody's September Eleventh. In fact it probably is, except it is for people we have decided not to consider seriously. Let's have some civil engineers why don't we?
In the 80s when I was in college, Electrical Engineers were considered the kings of all engineering. Aerospace was going great guns and the computer revolution had just begun. There were jobs everywhere for these guys and they walked on water. But in fact, nobody can walk on water, you need bridges of all sorts, but the prestige for Civil Engineering was pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole. They were considered almost as low as the natural scientists. When career day rolled around, we would sneer at the Army Corps of Engineers recruiters. Fixing bridges? Yeah right. The most outstanding thing they had going for them was the Tennessee Valley Authority. Now when is the last time you heard any kudos for that American marvel?
I think today we turn the corner. That is to say, I will no longer be disdainful.
I've in fact often brought American infrastructure into discussions about the greatness of this nation. All sociological questions out of the window Americans are blessed with an extraordinary infrastructure. The power stays on, the water flows, the trucks roll from coast to coast, the internet lives and most everyone is just a phone call away. But civil engineers know we've been neglecting roads, bridges, levees, dams, and all that physical stuff. We are all mindful of computer viruses and firewalls and spam, but none of that ever killed anyone.
So let's hear it for public works.
