SCHWENKSVILLE, PA. – Engineers think that three of the bridges closest to Dave Wisler’s home are about ready to collapse.

One, a picturesque one-lane structure built in 1893, became so perilous it was closed last summer, and the county doesn’t have the money to fix it. Another bridge, just down the road, is well-known for the concrete that chips off the bottom as children play in the creek below – it’s currently under repair.

Traffic was diverted to a third bridge nearby, but some drivers noticed a worrying humming noise as they drove over it, and their windows rattled. Authorities have since found that bridge is too dangerous to drive over too, and don’t know when they’ll be able to reopen it.

To get to a barn that he’s restoring across the river, about 300 yards away, Wisler now has to drive 15 minutes past homes and parks and blinking orange and white construction signs.

‘I can’t get there from here,’ said Wisler, peering over the small creek that winds through this rural town just outside Philadelphia.

America’s roads and bridges have been eroding for decades, but the deeper they fall into disrepair, the less money there is to fix them. First, the recession crippled […]