While discussing public policy we covered the stages of the public policy process which begin with agenda setting.
Nothing raises awareness of bridge safety like a bridge collapse. Now newspapers across the country are questions about the stability of the country's bridges, and infrastructure in general.
Christian Science Monitor.
Washington Post.
Houston Chronicle.
Bangkok Post.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Wall Street Journal.
Port Arthur News.
Others point out that bridges have collapsed in the past, and we eventually forgot about them and no major efforts were made to improve bridge safety across the country.
Silver Bridge in 1967.
Schoharie Bridge in 1987.
Though Congress immediately allocated funds to repair the bridge, its a fair bet that as time goes by--and other tragedies replace this one in the publics' mind--little will happen.
Here's surveillance footage that caught the collapse.
