2008 Woodie Awards
UNL engineers get grant for bridge research
Marc Miner
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: News
About 15 percent of Nebraska's bridges may be structurally deficient, but $2 million may help University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers make them safer.
Engineering researchers at UNL have received a four-year, $2 million grant with the prospect of maintaining and designing bridges that will last longer.
The National Academy of Sciences' Transportation Research Board presented the grant to UNL's National Bridge Research Organization (NaBRO) .
Atorod Azizinamini, the director of NaBRO, will head a team with two additional University of Nebraska civil engineers, Maher Tadros and Andrzej Nowak.
"Usually the research grants are $200,000 to $300,000," Tadros said. "This is a big one. This gives UNL and the state of Nebraska a lot of visibility nationally."
The project calls for researchers to develop new technologies and solutions that will extend bridge life to more than 100 years and develop more efficient bridge maintenance guidelines, Azizinamini said.
Sam Fallaha, assistant state bridge engineer for the state roads department, said 76.3 percent of Nebraska's more than 15,200 bridges, state and local, are adequate, 8 percent are functionally obsolete and 15.7 percent are structurally deficient.
All bridges open to traffic are safe, and if a bridge is not safe, they immediately shut it down, Fallaha said.
"Deficiency doesn't mean necessarily that the bridge is going to fall," Azizinamini said. "It means if the deficiency or condition ratings are low, then you've got to do something."
Deficiencies exist for many reasons. However, Azizinamini points a finger at two main reasons for deficiencies: heavy semi-trucks with illegal weight limits and environmental factors that penetrate bridge joints.
The government, concerned with minimizing maintenance costs and traffic interruptions, has involved engineers more in the process of bridge care and construction, Azizinamini said.
UNL researchers will collaborate with eight subcontractors to plan how to correct deficient bridges and design new structures with new thresholds.
Although the project is only in the information gathering and prioritizing stage, there's a national conference in Baltimore, Md., scheduled for March 19, for researchers to meet and exchange information. Subcontractors from Europe, South Korea and Japan will participate.
An education element will put graduate students in close contact with researchers and subcontractors. An estimated five graduate students are expected to join in, said Azizinamini.
"It's probably one of the best ways to teach because you're bringing everyone around the table to address a problem that is real," he said. "It's something that's going to affect society."
marcminer@dailynebraskan.com
Engineering researchers at UNL have received a four-year, $2 million grant with the prospect of maintaining and designing bridges that will last longer.
The National Academy of Sciences' Transportation Research Board presented the grant to UNL's National Bridge Research Organization (NaBRO) .
Atorod Azizinamini, the director of NaBRO, will head a team with two additional University of Nebraska civil engineers, Maher Tadros and Andrzej Nowak.
"Usually the research grants are $200,000 to $300,000," Tadros said. "This is a big one. This gives UNL and the state of Nebraska a lot of visibility nationally."
The project calls for researchers to develop new technologies and solutions that will extend bridge life to more than 100 years and develop more efficient bridge maintenance guidelines, Azizinamini said.
Sam Fallaha, assistant state bridge engineer for the state roads department, said 76.3 percent of Nebraska's more than 15,200 bridges, state and local, are adequate, 8 percent are functionally obsolete and 15.7 percent are structurally deficient.
All bridges open to traffic are safe, and if a bridge is not safe, they immediately shut it down, Fallaha said.
"Deficiency doesn't mean necessarily that the bridge is going to fall," Azizinamini said. "It means if the deficiency or condition ratings are low, then you've got to do something."
Deficiencies exist for many reasons. However, Azizinamini points a finger at two main reasons for deficiencies: heavy semi-trucks with illegal weight limits and environmental factors that penetrate bridge joints.
The government, concerned with minimizing maintenance costs and traffic interruptions, has involved engineers more in the process of bridge care and construction, Azizinamini said.
UNL researchers will collaborate with eight subcontractors to plan how to correct deficient bridges and design new structures with new thresholds.
Although the project is only in the information gathering and prioritizing stage, there's a national conference in Baltimore, Md., scheduled for March 19, for researchers to meet and exchange information. Subcontractors from Europe, South Korea and Japan will participate.
An education element will put graduate students in close contact with researchers and subcontractors. An estimated five graduate students are expected to join in, said Azizinamini.
"It's probably one of the best ways to teach because you're bringing everyone around the table to address a problem that is real," he said. "It's something that's going to affect society."
marcminer@dailynebraskan.com
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