I'd read about the bridge before we left home--an International Bridge over the Rio Uruguay between two friendly countries, Argentina and Uruguay. And I was happy to learn that it was at Frey Bentos, where we were going to be staying. Fantastic! We'll have a chance to go over to Argentina and try it out. Maybe we can just join a tour...fun!

So I'm visiting with a Uruguayan at the hotel pool about it and he says, well if you want to see it, I'm going there tonight to take some measurements and you can come and take a photo.
 
You're going to measure the bridge?
 
No, I measure the wood chip factory by the bridge.
 
You measure a factory?
 
Turns out he measures the sound pollution produced by the factory--a factory so embroiled in controversy it's operation has closed the bridge entirely. But not by Uruguay.
 
Does it pollute the air? Uruguays say, pollution! What pollution! Is hot air. Is no pollution. 
 
I know nothing, but there really was no smell around the factory--so unlike the horrible smelling paper mills on the Columbia River on the Oregon/Washington border. So if it's pollution, it's not the kind you can smell.
 
Argentina has blocked access to their side of the bridge--Bob thought by a trench dug across the street and I thought the guys said they'd put tires on the road. 

The Uruguyan's English was almost as bad as our Spanish, so somebody else will have to fill us in on just how that works.
 
And while your at it, please explain how does it happen that a perfectly good bridge can be balled up in politics and unusable for five years?
 
Todd and Shawn, you'd have had that thing negotiated in an half hour and up and running. Everyone would be happy again. The Uruguyans because they could then buy cheap gas in Argentina, the Finns (did I mention the factory is owned by Finns?) because they could then get logs from both countries, and Argentina because they would have the extra commerce.
But no. It sits and grows grass along the cracks in the pavement.
 
Even still, for a small fee, you can go over. A small illegal fee. Some things change, some remain the same forever.

Oh, and the photos? They won´t load so I´ll have to post them at our next stop.