# Pssssst..ya wanna buy a bridge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 18, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053 "2011-10-18T17:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/1 "2011-10-18T17:39:34Z")
[Two brothers steal Pennsylvania Bridge to sell for scrap](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15344442). You cannot make up this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/2 "2011-10-18T19:06:50Z")
They had no ambition. They shoulda tried for the Brooklyn Bridge, I tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/3 "2011-10-18T20:14:19Z")
Someone already bought it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/4 "2011-10-18T20:17:24Z")
Time to embrace the customs of our Arabian kin and start chopping the hands off of thieves. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/5 "2011-10-18T20:24:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Time to embrace the customs of our Arabian kin and start chopping the hands off of thieves. I guess you don’t want to bridge the cultural gap? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/6 "2011-10-18T20:27:50Z")
They were going to be sentenced to just parole, but their judge knew a guy who ran a private prison… ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/7 "2011-10-19T14:12:50Z")
This whole story tests my suspension of disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/8 "2011-10-19T14:30:12Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > They shoulda tried for the Brooklyn Bridge, I tell ya. How dare you encourage people to steal my bridge! I paid good money for it. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/9 "2011-10-19T15:16:38Z")
Being near there I’ve been wondering ------- was this their first attempt or simply a bridge too far? ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/10 "2011-10-19T15:32:41Z")
I’m reminded of the people who try to steal copper wiring from a substation. Typically, they cut away all of the grounds, leaving the substation with a foating ground, and they get zapped when they try to climb over or go through the fence. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/11 "2011-10-19T16:26:03Z")
> [@](#): > > “They will steal the copper wiring and the copper pipes out of an air conditioner and get **$1,500** dollars out of it, …” What? This isn’t a window A/C unit, I trust? Because otherwise what the hell am I doing still leaving out broken or retired refrigerators, gas grills and A/C units out on the curb for city pickup?? (I haven’t lately, but if I were to have to get a new one I wouldn’t think it was worth 100s or even 1,000s of dollars in scrap metal!) > [@](#): > > …employees at a nearby industrial metal recycling yard, Ferrotech Corporation, reported they had bought **31,000lbs (14 tons) of steel** matching the missing bridge **for $5,179** (£3,287), in several transactions in September. Wait - so an A/C system nets $1,500 but an entire bridge only gets back about 3.5x that amount? Meaning, four A/Cs is worth more as scrap than a small bridge? 😕 Then again, the guy who cited a $1,500 value for the air conditioner was from the police in Little Rock, Arkansas, while this bridge was resold in New Castle, Pennsylvania, about 900 miles away. Maybe there’s an opportunity for arbitrage here… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/12 "2011-10-19T16:36:38Z")
Well, copper is more valuable than steel, though I doubt that accounts for all of it. Poking around online, it looks like the commodity price for steel is around $900 a pound, though that’s probably new steel with the alloy set according to the customer’s specs, not scrap. And since they were probably looking to unload it quickly, they probably got significantly less than it should have been worth, too. Copper, being a mostly-pure metal rather than an alloy, probably retains a larger percentage of its price as scrap. And wiring and pipes are a little less conspicuous than an entire bridge, so copper thieves are probably able to shop around a bit more for better prices. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pssssst-ya-wanna-buy-a-bridge/600053/13 "2011-10-19T17:49:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Poking around online, it looks like the commodity price for steel is around **$900 a pound** , though that’s probably new steel with the alloy set according to the customer’s specs, not scrap. Holy moly, forget about gold, I’m investing in steel! [sub]Pretty sure that’s per ton, not per pound[/sub]