Reply #1: Yes, it does sound HORRIBLE. Can't begin to understand how they can justify it.

[Judi Lynn]

Here's more:

Mo. bridge repair bill signed
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
09/06/2007

ST. JOSEPH, mo. — Gov. Matt Blunt signed legislation Wednesday that supporters say will allow the state to fix more than 800 bridges within five years.

Under the plan, called the Safe and Sound Bridge Program, Missouri will drastically speed the repairs of its bridges by awarding a single 30-year contract to fix and maintain 802 of its worst bridges.
(snip)

The contractor that wins the job will be required to fix or replace the 802 bridges within five years, rather than the two decades it would take at the state's current pace of bridge maintenance. The contractor would be paid only after all repairs are done and would have to maintain the bridges in satisfactory condition for the next 25 years.

Only three states — Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Iowa — have more bridges in poor condition than Missouri. Of Missouri's 24,024 bridges, nearly 20 percent, or 4,595, are structurally deficient, according to a 2006 Federal Highway Administration report.

Almost all of the bridges included in Missouri's plan are in poor or serious condition, meaning they are just a step away from closure. Even with the large repair project, 171 other bridges in serious or poor condition would not be repaired.

More:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/misso...