I was sad to see the old iron Foxburg Bridge go. The new bridge there isn't nearly as lovely.

I do have to say though that I enjoy being able to drive across is easily, and not having to wait while it clears of traffic (the old one being one-lane and all).

As for the current viaduct, it's a shame that people didn't invest years ago in maintaining it. I don't know anything about maintaining bridges, so maybe there wasn't much to do, but that doesn't seem likely. I hope we can put more effort today into maintaining our infrastructure.

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Keeping things painted helps, but the biggest deal is keeping the sewers and expansion dams clear of crap. Otherwise, improper drainage and obstructed expansion basically mean the bridge just tears itself apart.

I suspect we lost when during the Milton Schapp administration PennDOT blew its budget trying to build every highway in the highway plan and ran out of money, neither finishing that nor having anything left for maintenance. It's all been catchup since. But I could be full of it. I was like 2 years old, or something.

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I think it's fair to argue that form IS a function. It's just low on the priority list when the checkbooks come out. Plus, I suspect that a lot of engineers have a sort of minimalist æsthetic that makes them see "the simplest thing that works" as the most visually pleasing.

Also, I noticed your journal title for the first time in a while. Damn you. That song wedges itself in my head with far more force than anything that Mr. Astley can muster.

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