What else, I wonder, is 47 years old and deteriorating?
A decadeslong effort to replace the deteriorating Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, connecting Hatteras Island to the mainland [note below], has won approval from the U. S. Department of Interior.
The approval announced Monday was a key victory for Outer Banks residents who had been lobbying since the 1970s for replacement of the Bonner Bridge, which they said was a disaster waiting to happen. But it was a disappointment to environmentalists who saw a new bridge as both an infringement of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and an infrastructure project built on shifting sands.
Contracts could be finalized as early as late spring or early summer for a bridge that state officials estimate will cost about $300 million and take three years to complete - assuming there are no snags in the final negotiations or lawsuits.
The Obama administration decision came after some high-powered lobbying by the state's Democratic leadership. Both U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan and Gov. Bev Perdue lobbied U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
They've been lobbying for a new bridge since the 1970s? The bridge and I were only teenagers. But, come to think of it, society started dogging my sorry ass about the same time, and it has only intensified.
Here is the environmental alternative:
Some environmentalists had pushed for a 17-mile bridge over Pamlico Sound - which by some estimates would cost $2 billion - that would bypass the entire [Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge].
The environmental benefits would need to be at least $1.7 billion, $100 million per mile, to justify the long bridge (17 miles [relative to 3.3 miles]! I'd have to make a pee stop halfway across). Every household in the U.S. would need to be willing to pay a one-time $15 or so to justify the extra spending ($15 > $1.7b/120m).
In general, this is a bad idea -- building a bridge to facilitate living on a narrow ribbon of sand, which could eventually wash away. It is also inequitable as the entire country pays when only a relatively few benefit. How about this? Since there are 2 million trips across the existing bridge each year, we could place a toll of $15 per crossing to generate $30 million each year. Given cost overruns and borrowing costs, the bridge might be paid for in 20 years.
Using the same logic, the 17 mile environmental bridge would require a toll of about $100 per crossing.
Note: The Bonner bridge does not connect Hatteras Island to the mainland, it connects it to another island and you need to cross two more bridges to get to the mainland!
