Here's a Time magazine article about it:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,159579,00.html

Some quotes:
"Across the nation, state and local governments have tended to award competitive contracts to the lowest bidder, often meaning they got the shoddiest materials and the sloppiest work. In addition, the Federal Government has encouraged neglect by subsidizing new construction or major restructuring at 90 cents to the dollar but awarding no subsidies for maintenance work. One expert likens it to not reimbursing drivers for the cost of changing oil in their cars while paying 90% of the price of a valve job."

"In Europe, by contrast, maintenance and repair work begin before damage is even visible. During a 1990 study trip to Europe, a group of U.S. civilian and government experts was amazed to see maintenance work under way on highways considered to be in superb condition by American standards."