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Two recent events clearly illustrate the lack of infrastructure action in this country. Over 30 Midwest levee failures earlier this summer as a result of torrential rainfalls and the one-year anniversary of the I-35W Bridge collapse in Minnesota continue to show how federal and state governments have been ineffective in addressing the needs of our crumbling infrastructure.

Take the levee situation for example. Following the devastating Midwest floods along the Mississippi River in 1993, those levees and others were evaluated and deemed deficient. Yet 15 years later nothing had been done to fortify those structures.

Again, in the case of the bridge collapse, our government officials promised a thorough investigation to determine the cause and ordered immediate inspections of similar bridges.

Yes, investigations did determine that the bridge failed as a result of an undersized gusset plate. But earlier inspections of the bridge detected a lack of structural integrity in the gusset plates that were holding the bridge together. The decision at the time was to continue monitoring the structural elements, rather than replacing them.

So what’s the point in conducting inspections if nothing is done to remedy a problem? If the answer is money, the cost is only going to increase the longer it’s left to continue deteriorating, and in the case of the Minnesota bridge or the Midwest levees, the cost is measured in the loss of life and billions of dollars in damages.