That Sinking Feeling (Chapter II, "Making Lemonade")

Waco, Texas isn't letting their new sinkhole [1], which opened up when a metal drainage tunnel built during a late-1960s urban renewal project collapsed, get them down. They're building a fancy new bridge over it, "along with a new section of the lighted concrete river trail." Trumpeted a city council member [2], "We've been looking at the best way to make this happen while considering future growth....Residents would like it."

America's wastewater infrastructure: D-minus [3]. America's public relations skills: A-plus. Nice save, guys!

To be sure, the situation is not ideal. Waco has been hoping for years to develop the area into a yuppie-style "riverwalk" [4] like in San Antonio. But the bridge can only be seven feet high (still enough for a "small tour boat" to pass under, the city manager [1] gamely promises), because "there was no practical way to raise the 48-inch sewer line that will lie under the bridge."

Says Waco's city manager, who apparently has a very dry wit: "We analyzed those options very carefully."