Comment by m_mueller

As a European this argument is a bit strange to me (since we have so many structures that are hundreds of years old and are still in use today). Don't people sometimes just want something that works and keeps on working? A monument of engineering to be proud of? Something to show to visitors? And on the economic side of things I'm not at all convinced that rebuilding every century would be cheaper for something like a bridge, considering the cost of closing it down.