Why Trump is RIGHT about America's failing infrastructure

Thursday, December 24, 2015 by: Jennifer Lea Reynolds
Tags: US infrastructure, Donald Trump, collapse

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(NaturalNews) Could it be that Donald Trump, if he wins the presidency, will don a hard hat and take to the streets with a jackhammer in hand? Possibly, according to tweets earlier this year, in which he stressed the need for vast improvement to the country's failing infrastructure.

On Twitter, Trump – @realDonaldTrump – responded to an Amtrak crash, tweeting, "Amtrak crash near Philadelphia, train derails -many hurt, some badly. Our country has horrible infrastructure problems. Pols can't solve!"⁽¹⁾

When asked on the social media service what his proposed solution would be in light of his statement that "Pols can't solve," he wrote, "The only one to fix the infrastructure of our country is me - roads, airports, bridges. I know how to build, pols only know how to talk!"⁽¹⁾

Since these comments, which began in May 2015 in response to the aforementioned Amtrak crash that killed at least seven people and injured hundreds (eventually linked to the engineer's "human error" and "no system to regulate the speed"), Trump announced his plans to run for president. Since then, of course, other issues have taken center stage and dominated debates, social media outlets and headlines. Still, the reality remains that the country's infrastructure is in serious need of repair.^(1,2)

Serious piping problems in San Francisco

For example, in San Francisco, California, many pipes are approximately 150 years old and considered a "working relic." So, you've got already-stressed, old pipes in place. Add to that the fact that there's less water flowing from them due to water conservation practices – water which is supposed to handle the same amount of human waste. How can these old pipes handle the same amount of human waste, when they're operating with a reduced ability to function?⁽³⁾

The end result is not a pretty picture, as all of this increased stress on centuries-old pipes could end up spewing forth sewage onto the streets.

Old infrastructure is also an issue on the East coast.

Centuries-old infrastructure in NYC an issue too ...

In 2014, a 127-year-old gas main exploded in Harlem, New York City, killing at least seven people. Ironically, just the day before, the Center for an Urban Future issued its latest report, Caution Ahead, which detailed the city's tremendous infrastructure problems.⁽⁴⁾

According to the report, "Simply put, too much of the city's essential infrastructure remains stuck in the 20th Century—a problem for a city positioning itself to compete with other global cities in today's 21st Century economy." The eye-opening report, which states that "... critical components are past their useful life and highly susceptible to breaks and malfunctions," breaks down New York City's infrastructure problems as follows:

"Over 1,000 miles of New York City water mains are more than 100 years old, leading to frequent and disruptive breaks. More than 160 bridges across the five boroughs were built over a century ago, and in 2012 47 bridges were deemed both structurally deficient and fracture critical, a designation engineers use for bridges that have little structural redundancy, making them prone to failure and collapse. The subway's aging signaling system—with 269 miles of mainline signals exceeding their 50-year useful life—slows the movement of trains and forces maintenance workers to build their own replacement parts because manufacturers no longer make them. Additionally, more than 200 of the city's public school buildings were built before 1920."⁽⁵⁾

"In some cases, the infrastructure in New York is so old we don't even know where it is under the street," said New York city planner and historian Alexander Garvin. "There can be a water main break in lower Manhattan and our engineers won't be able to find it."⁽⁵⁾

Mixed reaction on social media about fixing aging infrastructure

Of course, like for any presidential hopeful, a mixed set of reactions exist. Of Trump's desire to improve the country's infrastructure, some people on Twitter responded enthusiastically, urging him to forge on. This includes MuskyHunter (@1MuskyHunter) who wrote, "@realDonaldTrump agree with that statement 100%; time to step into the prez ring #trumpforprez," and James Poe (@JamesFire) who says, "@realDonaldTrump Donald you should run before the fact resistant humans destroy everything. You'd be great! Thx."⁽⁶⁾

On the other hand, many people weren't thrilled with his statement. Donald Kerabatsos (@Papakila) wrote, "@realDonaldTrump the only thing you know how to build are sweatshops in China to make your crappy ties. #Blowhard." And D (@yankeegirl78) responded by saying, "@realDonaldTrump you didn't even attempt to fix Atlantic City, we are supposed to trust you with an entire country? #delusional."⁽⁶⁾

Time will tell. But either way, the terribly aging infrastructure needs to be addressed soon.

Sources for this article include:

(1) NewsMax.com

(2) NYTimes.com

(3) NaturalNews.com

(4) TheGuardian.com

(5) NYCFuture.org

(6) NYTimes.com