Source: Brian Coon, 785-532-1573, bcoon@k-state.edu
http://transport.ksu.edu
Prepared by: Mary Rankin, 785-532-6467, mrankin@k-state.edu
Friday, August 3, 2007
K-STATE PROFESSORS STUDYING REMOTE BRIDGE MONITORING
MANHATTAN — A team of civil engineering professors at Kansas State University is developing technology to monitor the health of bridges in rural Kansas.
This technology, which uses wireless networks to gather information about the condition of bridges, will aid in the determination of the condition and safety of bridges in the state.
"In 2006, 5,431 of the 25,440 bridges in Kansas were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete," said Brian A. Coon, associate professor of civil engineering and director of the Kansas State University Transportation Center. "A significant number of these bridges serve rural Kansas, which has very limited funding and a lower priority for rehabilitation or upgrade."
The Federal Highway Administration has estimated that funding of at least $215 billion is necessary to repair all the bridges and roads nationwide, and at least $50 billion is needed to sustain the bridges and roads at their current conditions.
The system being developed by the K-State team of Hayder Rasheed, Robert Peterman, Asad Esmaeily and Hani Melhem will include remote sensing, evaluation and feedback on rural bridges. Focusing on bridges with existing damage — frequently caused by the high loads of grain trucks at harvest time — the professors are developing methods to use a sandwiched glass FRP-steel composite material as an external strengthening technique to increase the capacity and safety of the bridges.
The civil engineering faculty group is developing the system through funded research at the University Transportation Center, which coordinates interdisciplinary transportation research, training and outreach efforts at K-State. Focusing on the sustainability and safety of rural transportation systems and infrastructure, the center emphasizes the unique needs of rural transportation systems.
More information on the Center is available at http://transport.ksu.edu and by email to utc@k-state.edu.