Don't we end up just spending the same? Just now we're left with a crappy bridge.
Obviously, there's a way to do both poorly too. We can make expensive things that don't last. I think a large chunk of gripes about things that don't last are really about (1) not getting the upside of the tradeoff, cheaper (in both senses) more flexible solutions, and (2) just getting bad quality period.
On whole it is entirely reasonable optimisation problem. What is the best lifespan of single bridge over desired total lifespan.