bridges are infrastructure
'We're going to fix them all,' Biden says after Pittsburgh bridge collapse
President Biden was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday, where he visited the site of a bridge that collapsed only hours before his arrival, Reuters reported.
According to NBC News, Biden was joined by Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey (D) as well as Rep. Connor Lamb and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, both of whom are seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R).
Ten people were injured after the snow-covered Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh's Point Breeze neighborhood collapsed Friday morning, KDKA Pittsburgh reported. Three people were taken to the hospital. There were no fatalities.
President Biden made a scheduled visit to Pittsburgh only hours after the collapse. "The idea that we have been so far behind on infrastructure, for so many years — it's just mind-boggling," he said. "We're going to fix them all. Not a joke, this is going to be a gigantic change."
The purpose of Biden's visit was to promote his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which he signed in November.
During his remarks, Biden also pointed out that the bridge was in "decrepit condition," just like "another 3,300 bridges here in Pennsylvania" and "43,000 nationwide," he said, citing Department of Transportation figures.
Since the collapse, several Twitter users have drawn attention to a 2018 tweet from one Dr. G Kochanski, who posted a picture of the bridge's underside and tagged the Pittsburgh 311 Response Center. "I hope someone is keeping an eye on the underside of the [bridge]," Kochanski wrote. "One of the big 'X' beams is rusted through entirely."