In the postmortem of the deadly Minnesota bridge collapse, a dichotomy has emerged: Could a span that stood for four decades, without a hint of serious problems, been structurally deficient from the start?

This question is bound to baffle transportation engineers for months to come, but this quandary is ultimately more solvable than the massive problems lawmakers, on all levels, will have in finding new revenue sources to fund billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects from sea to shining sea.

Estimates of needed work are staggering. Projections by the American Society of Civil Engineers say the government must spend $9.4 billion annually for 20 years on bridges alone, according to The New York Times, in a country where 70,000 bridges have been identified as structurally deficient.

Maine’s pending work is proportionately similar. More than 300 bridges here are overdue for repairs or replacement, with a cost estimate of $500 million. Lawmakers are wondering where these funds may originate, with additional transportation bonds possible, according to The Associated Press.

The cost of full repairs is probably unattainable. Maine, like other states and the federal government, is likely too far behind in its maintenance cost to make headway, without massive tax increases or significant borrowing packages. President Bush, on Thursday, already ruled out a federal gasoline tax increase.

The president, during a news conference, criticized the ability of lawmakers to designate transportation projects for funding as an incorrect way of prioritizing “the people’s money.” The president is right in asserting a review of current spending, before any plans for raising additional revenue – like gasoline taxes – are considered.

In Maine, where gas prices are creeping down, introduction of a gasoline tax increase would be throwing the combustible liquid onto already hot taxpayers. Asking the public to bond more – if earmarked only for bridges, and meticulously monitored – is the best of bad choices.

The public should rest easier, though, given reports from Minneapolis that the collapse was conceivably aided by the weight of construction vehicles and equipment on the bridge, as well as potential structural flaws. Understanding this tragedy is key to preventing the next.

Yet the inherent problem of funding isn’t so easy to understand. Traditional methods of revenue generation for government – fees, taxes and borrowing – are outpaced by the needs of its infrastructure. Maine, like the rest of the country, is grasping at hopes to find enough money to make an effort.

This situation reveals another dichotomy.

Within days of a collapse, it can become clear what can make a bridge fall down.

It has become near-impossible, though, to raise enough money to keep them up.