Our country’s infrastructure has become such a part of daily life, that we barely give its various aspects a second thought.

Water pours from the faucet when we open the tap, lights come on when the switch is flipped and bridges hold up the weight of people and vehicles as they are intended.

In our daily commutes we cross a number of bridges, some may cross a narrow creek or ditch, while others allow us to take a shortcut across a large lake.

Most of the time, these marvels of engineering serve their purpose.

Since they seem so static, we see these structures as a sturdy method to overcome what would be an otherwise insurmountable hazard and thereby shortening our drive time to a destination.

But every so often we hear of situations where aging bridges, or even a new bridge, collapses, taking the lives of motorists and/or pedestrians.

Most recently, stories about the lives lost in the collapse of a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University has more than likely put bridges to the front of our minds. That thought may cause us to wonder whether the bridge we are stopped on or under is near the point of collapse.

The bad news is there are five bridges within Pearl River County that were recently deemed unsafe. The good news is the state has closed them to traffic.

According to a report posted on the Mississippi Office of State Aid Road Construction, those bridges are located on Olive Church Road, Jones Road, Holden Road, Old Highway 26 West and Harry Sones Road.

While it’s good that the bridges were closed for the safety of the public, it could mean that if our daily trip to work or town took us across one of those bridges, a detour will be involved.

But, it’s better to drive a bit farther to get to our destination, than risk becoming another statistic in the list of fatalities caused by a failed bridge.