It's interesting and sad to me (here in the UK) that both the US and UK seem to be so short-sighted when it comes to repairing/maintaining and improving critical infrastructure.
I get that they aren't big flashy projects but you would think that when you have infrastructure that affects the lives of literally millions of people we could do better.
The Victorians here celebrated public infrastructure projects so much that they often organised tours of new projects after completion, which is one of the reasons why when you go look at Victorian stuff (even sewage works) they are often so beautifully finished, it was infrastructure as both art and statement.
Also I can genuinely recommend http://thelondonphile.com/ I'm a Northerner in the North but it's a fascinating look at London and it's heritage, lots of places I want to visit.
>But what the Corps tells itself about the Lewisville Dam is different from what it tells the public. “We want to get the message out that there’s a potential for something bad to happen, but we don’t want to unduly panic the public,” says an official involved in the communications. “So we sugarcoat the message a bit.”
It may be time to change strategy. Is it the politicians holding the purse strings of the Army Corps of Engineers? It may be time to light a fire under their asses. Panicked constituents can do that.
With estimated damages on the order of billions and a "high risk" classification, I wonder why it apparently is hard to get the necessary millions for repairs.
Most of Dallas isn't in the flood plain for the Trinity River, but the most expensive bits (Downtown, Uptown, some parts of the Park Cities) are. Those places are, somewhat, protected by the Trinity River levees...the same levees that the occasional person who doesn't understand how levees are supposed to work wants to build a toll road inside of.
I get that they aren't big flashy projects but you would think that when you have infrastructure that affects the lives of literally millions of people we could do better.
The Victorians here celebrated public infrastructure projects so much that they often organised tours of new projects after completion, which is one of the reasons why when you go look at Victorian stuff (even sewage works) they are often so beautifully finished, it was infrastructure as both art and statement.
https://thelondonphile.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/img_4714.... that's from a pumping station/sewage plant.
Also I can genuinely recommend http://thelondonphile.com/ I'm a Northerner in the North but it's a fascinating look at London and it's heritage, lots of places I want to visit.