How long before a bridge collapses?

The Globe has a story about the Feds mandating that the MBTA slow down Red Line trains to a crawl over the Longfellow Bridge because it's basically crumbling.

I realize these sort of repairs can't happen over night but don't you think that if these structures were checked frequently that repairs could have been made as needed versus letting them compile and having to endure a longer project?

This is the sort of thing that really drives me nuts about politics. Who's going to fix these bridges? Who's going to pay for them?

I know the answer to the latter question. That's us, the tax payers. So instead of marginal increases in taxes, road tolls, etc., we'll see big jumps in costs to fares on the T and $1 increases to tolls. That's how those politico's roll.

Basically, ah shucks guys, we have a problem. But, we have the solution. Let's bend the tax payers over the barrel one more time and really stick it to 'em so we can rake in more money to fix these problems. Then we'll do it again in about a year because we're over spending on contracts and can't budget a state project properly.

Ah, gotta love Massachusetts. At least our sports teams are winning. ;)