July 31, 2013 11:30 AM UTC

Concerns Over Fixing Aging Infrastructure Continue

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

Whether they will admit it or not, most people understand that the government (and yes, taxes) are a necessary part of our everyday lives when it comes to basic things like firefighters, police officers, and roads. It can be difficult to continue your daily commute if a giant freakin' hole opens up in the middle of the road — Sheridan Blvd., for instance.

As 9News reports, Colorado's aging infrastructure needs some love:

It is the hidden problem waiting to happen. Beneath the streets and highways, all across this country, pipes carrying water to residents are aging and getting a day closer to failing.

"The system was designed for about a 50 to 100 year lifetime and many of them were put in shortly after World War II," said Ross Corotis, an engineering professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. "They've reached really the end of their aging life span."

A ruptured 12-inch water main on Sheridan Boulevard between Fourth and Fifth Avenues is representative of the problem. The pipe was installed in 1952. The pipe ruptured and created a sink hole approximately 27 feet long, 15 feet wide and 10 feet deep on Sheridan Boulevard. It forced the closure of northbound Sheridan between First and Fifth Avenues and southbound Sheridan between Fourth and Fifth Avenues.

Denver Water expects the repairs to be completed and the road reopened by midnight. The water main break left one building and 16 residential customers along Sheridan without water.

"You see this and you say this is a shame. But it is not unexpected. In a statistical sense it is going to happen," Corotis said. [Pols emphasis]

Events like this are a good opportunity for elected officials and community leaders to remind the public that you can't fix roads and bridges without money. Nobody wants to pay more taxes, but there is a difference between desire and understanding that some things we take for granted are pretty damn important.