This is actually an excellent teachable moment. Attend.
Politicians will not pay to rebuild the bridge. They will simply take the credit. The people will pay to do it, and the people will do the work. Politicians will induce its reconstruction by exchanging fiat currency, which came from the people, for expertise and labor, also from the people. Fine and dandy. Nothing wrong with a little give and take. Bridges, labor, and expertise all have social utility.
Where societies get into trouble is when they start believing that wealth creates more wealth, which creates more utility. That is magical thinking. Magical thinking does not create expertise, does not compensate labor, and does not rebuild bridges. Only items or actions that create or sustain utility have real, lasting economic value. All economics is an energy exchange matrix, and as we know, energy cannot be created from nothing. This will remain true when all politicians have turned to dust.