Mike Steenhoek, Soy Transportation Coalition, aboard the riverboat Twilight on the Mississippi River near LeClaire.
PRIORITY REPORT Rural bridge replacement and repair in need of a farmer mentality BY MIKE STEENHOEK, Executive Director, Soy Transportation Coalition
O
ne of the many admirable traits of farmers is that when they encounter a challenge or dilemma at their farming operation, their default response is not to get out their credit card and start spending their hard-earned money. Instead, most farmers first ask themselves, “How can I be creative and innovative in order to solve this problem without spending a significant amount of money? I would rather save my way out of this problem rather than spend my way out of this problem.” If this stewardship mentality works so well on the farm, it certainly should work when managing and improving our
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transportation system. While we affirm and applaud much of the national debate regarding investing in our multi-modal transportation system, the overwhelming majority of the proposals submitted by our nation’s leaders focus on addressing the needs via more taxpayer funding. Increased investment is clearly required. However, the approach to enhancing our transportation system could also benefit from the farmer mentality that insists on making an existing dollar stretch further.
Essential supply chain link Rural roads and bridges serve as the initial link in the overall supply chain –
allowing the soybeans and grain produced on a farm to be eventually consumed by domestic and international customers. Of the bridges in the country classified as deficient and, in many cases, subject to closures or restricted access, a significant percentage are in rural areas. To promote more cost-effective approaches to replacing and repairing rural bridges without compromising safety, the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) recently released the report, “The Top 20 Innovations for Rural Bridge Replacement and Repair.” The report features 10 rural bridge replacement innovations and 10 rural bridge repair innovations.
