An article in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times reports that U.S. commuters take more than 200 million trips every day across bridges that are structurally deficient. At least 8,000 bridges across the country are in danger of failing if even a single component breaks. The cost to update these bridges has risen to $20.5 billion a year, according to the Federal Highway Administration. After years of budget cuts, the Great Recession and the job-killing sequestration, funding for transportation projects has declined significantly.

"These bridges will all eventually fall down," says Barry LePatner, a construction attorney who documents bridge deficiencies.

The American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the United States a D+ for the state of its infrastructure, and bridges are just one of the areas in need of an upgrade before another tragedy happens.

Much of the current bridge and road network was built in the 1950s and those infrastructure projects are all coming due for significant maintenance at the same time. These repairs are generally paid for by the federal gas tax, but with such a large number of bridges and roads coming up for upgrades at the same time, the tax can't keep up and Washington is unlikely to increase the tax in the face of staunch Republican opposition to raising any revenue, even if it is necessary.

Read the full article.