[ThrustVectoring]

>What's funny to me though is that they consider this cost prohibitive despite the expected theoretically longer life without replacement or maintenance.

Time value of money plays a big part here. The extra cost is now, the maintenance costs are paid later. Costs paid immediately are significantly more expensive than costs paid a long time from now.

[daniel-cussen]

With current low interest rates, I'd say this effect is sharply reduced. The twenties will produce infrastructure that will last a really, really long time because those maintenance costs will be incorporated almost without discount.

[asdff]

A lot of public budgets don't have room for a big upfront cost, but a longer pay period can be incorporated more smoothly and disturb fewer other parts of the budget, even if it ends up costing more in the long run. Sometimes there are federal grants to provide quick windfall for public works.