New Method can Help Assess Bridge Repairs, Save Significant Cost
Written by AZoBuildApr 21 2021
The $2 trillion American Jobs Plan from President Biden has placed the country’s infrastructure in the spotlight.
In 2007, the Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis collapsed, sending cars plummeting into the river below. Thirteen people were killed, 145 more were injured. Image Credit: Getty Images.
Considering this initiative, a new study from the University of Georgia (UGA) has suggested that states can save costs and prolong the life of their bridges by adopting a new method on how they prioritize preventive maintenance.
Present-day national strategies developed for bridge maintenance prefer replacement rather than maintenance. In this case, a relatively simple depreciation formula is employed, which leads to overly conservative assessments of the long-term health of a bridge.