[Aljazeera] The breadth of crumbling infrastructure in the United States is "mind boggling", President Joe Biden said on Friday, as he visited the site of an early-morning bridge collapse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.The bridge collapsed just hours before Biden’s scheduled visit to the city to tout his massive infrastructure spending package — an incident that highlighted the urgency of his drive to address the nation’s ageing roads and bridge.
Ten people sustained injuries, all of them minor, when the snow-covered span collapsed into a wooded gully at about 6am (11:00 GMT), according to authorities, who said a large gas leak was reported in the area at the time. The leak was brought under control.
"It sounded like a snowplough," a witness told KDKA, a local news station, calling the timing — on the day of Biden’s visit — "an amazing coincidence".
Visibly moved, Biden gazed across a ravine over the buckled sections of the half-century-old Fern Hollow Bridge, flanked by Pennsylvania and local officials and emergency workers as he surveyed the damage.
"The idea that we have been so far behind on infrastructure, for so many years — it’s just mind boggling," Biden said.
The collapse highlights Biden’s call for massive investment in the nation’s bridges, highways and other infrastructure, which the president sees as a vital step in assuring the economy’s long-term health along with addressing supply chain shortage and revitalising manufacturing.