Many companies list different material resistance properties for the two.

We’re going to have to rebuild a bunch of it.  And Chris Christie is going to need to accept federal rail money this time.

Now, where your counter-argument falls down is this. Saltwater has gotten into all sorts of underground and under grade equipment in NYC. You can spend money to rip it out and replace it with new or re-certified infrastructure/equipment now, and spend MUCH less on maintenance from here on out. (You could also replace what just acts faulty and spend a little more on maintenance.) Or you could do what your “broken window” argument makes you seem like you are advocating, which is do nothing now and wait for it all to fail. And fail it will.

Salt water is still winning.

 
Salt water plays the long game.

Salt water always wins.

“It’s a tempting argument, really. After all, every time something catastrophic happens, whether it’s a house fire, an earthquake, or a devastating storm, there is indeed economic activity created. Most immediately, the companies involved in recovery and debris removal benefit, often at highly inflated prices given the supply and demand issues involved, as do the people that work for them. However, as I’ve noted before, this is a rather short-sighted argument that ignores the costs that are incurred when a massive disaster like Sandy occurs, not to mention lost opportunity costs of the investments and purchases that would have been made if businesses, homeowners, and the government had not been forced to divert funds because of the destruction that Sandy unleashed on the United States”

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/hurricane-sandy-and-the-broken-window-fallacy/