You know we do bridge building in SECME and at "Drop It, Build It, Fly It, Launch It, Thrill It." So I listened to this "Planet Money" podcast today, and if you have a few minutes I think you'll enjoy listening to it as well. Especially since the bridge is crumbling and will need to be replaced in the two decades, at a potential cost of $6 BILLION dollars.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/08/09/139276566/the-tuesday-podcast-a-big-bridge-in-the-wrong-place
You would never look at a map of the Hudson River, point to the spot where the Tappan Zee Bridge is, and say, "Put the bridge here!"
The Tappan-Zee crosses one of the widest points on the Hudson — the bridge is more than three miles long. And if you go just a few miles south, the river gets much narrower.
Our question for today's show: Why did they build a three-mile-long bridge when they could have built a much shorter, cheaper bridge nearby?
Our search for an answer leads us to a forensic engineer, the Statue of Liberty, and a governor who wanted to be an opera singer.
