When Mike LaViolette was eight years old, he would spend afternoons at his grandpa’s farm watching construction workers operate cranes and place concrete as they built a bridge across a nearby county road. Later on, he went on family-driving vacations that often journeyed across bridges to reach the destination, which includes crossing the Mackinac Bridge …Continue reading “Civil engineering alumnus bridges gaps across the world”
Iowa State University engineers know bridge construction projects can create driving headaches. You can’t just move traffic to the shoulder. You have to detour traffic for miles and, sometimes, for months. “That creates additional societal costs,” said Brent Phares, the director of Iowa State’s Bridge Engineering Center and an adjunct assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering. …Continue reading “Iowa State Bridge Engineering Center part of new U.S. DOT transportation center”
Iowa State University engineers are working with the Iowa Department of Transportation to develop and test a comprehensive monitoring system on the new bridge near downtown Iowa Falls. The system will take continuous, real-time measurements of corrosion, strain, surface conditions, moisture within the bridge’s steel arch and structure movements over time. Brent Phares, interim director …Continue reading “Iowa State engineers load new Iowa Falls bridge with damage-detection gauges”
