Why would thieves steal a bridge?

[Blue_Tires]

Two men in the US have been charged with cutting up a steel bridge and selling it for scrap. How - and why - did they do it?

When the two men showed up at the scrap yard in Pennsylvania with chopped-up steel beams and grating, nothing seemed initially suspicious.

After all, it is not unusual for men to show up with hundreds of pounds of metal in the back of a pick-up truck, an employee of the yard tells the BBC.

But the following month, police determined the men had stolen the steel from a bridge in an isolated wood in rural Pennsylvania, and people familiar with the scrap metal business and theft cases say it may be the first reported case of a bridge being cut down, stolen and sold for scrap.

With scrap metal prices at or near historic highs - in part due to voracious demand from China for use in domestic industry - police across the country and people in the scrap metal recycling business say the US is suffering what is almost an epidemic of metal theft.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15344442

[KharmaTrain]

1. I Read Of Similar Stories...

Radio towers have been targeted for their copper wiring. Many of these sites are in the middle of nowhere and someone with a little knowledge and the right equipment can make a nice haul before its noticed and trafficking the metal is easy with so many recycling and scrap yards out there.

[happyslug]

2. Reported 10-7-2011 on DU

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=175x19233

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Article from 10-7-2011:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11280/1180364-455.stm#ixzz1a9neYAw0

[Warpy]

3. Here they've been going after power lines

One bunch they busted (thank you, cops) was stripping the copper wiring from a train crossing gate.

If they see an empty house, they strip out the wiring and copper plumbing.

Copper's a big deal here.

[pipi_k]

5. As a decorative metal

I absolutely love copper.

Anyway, I have a copper backsplash and sink faucet in my kitchen, plus a nice little collection of copper items (platters, tea kettles, salt and pepper shakers, etc.)

If thieves ever saw what's in my kitchen, it would be gone in a heartbeat.

[Uben]

4. We have people who troll for scrap metal

We have trash pick-up on Monday mornings. Folks put their garbage and unwanted items on the curb for pick-up. On Sunday evening, I had a guy stop and look at what I had set out. He asked if he could take the scrap metal (a used CVJ)I had set out and I said sure. HE goes around our lake (8 miles) picking up metal he can sell. But for him, it's not for profit. He gives all the money he makes recycling to charity, while doing us a service by keeping it out of the landfill. We need more like him!