The demand for civil engineers has and will always remain strong for the simple fact that engineers contribute to our everyday life in numerous applications. In recent years the market for engineers in the United States has been in the infrastructure renewal industry. We are seeing more and more structures in our societies that are in need of repair. Anywhere from water treatment systems and dams to the highways and bridges we drove on, all decaying over time and some in need of desperate attention. A group of Kansas State University researchers have developed a bridge heath index system that rates projects and the amount of damage of each one, which is beneficial for predicting flaws throughout structures and potential threats. With this new method it can keep our bridges safer and potentially longer lasting.
In 1998, the United States had passed a new transportation funding bill that was implemented to increase the spending of rebuilding by 40 percent for some of our everyday roads and other forms of transportation. With this bill passed new jobs in the transportation construction industry were created and to this today continue to grow. This it just one example that helps demonstrate how serious these applications are to civil engineers. The safety and well-being of our society are the main priorities to civil engineers everywhere. Creating solutions to complications that may occur remains a number one aspect and main value. We as administrative citizens can not afford to have more catastrophic events occur. Furthermore, with the new rating system developed, it can be applied to various systems and help us better understand the behavior of how different materials react over time towards elements of nature.
How does the Health index system help lead to safer more efficient bridges? Well by applying finite analysis and neural network modeling, engineers can now calculate and detect bridge damage in a more timely manner. This will help decrease the chances of catastrophic events, like the 2007 collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis. This rating system can also be applied to numerous other structures including dams, buildings, and airplanes simply because of the same network modeling system. This new network allows for inspectors and other fellow civil engineers to input parameters such as width, depth, and the location of the cracks in the bridges, and the network will give the health index of the bridge.
Further research is being made into shaping this network into a tool that our Departments of Transportation can use. In the long run this new method of scanning and rating will change the face of bridge building forever. Civil engineers will now have the ability to locate fractures throughout not only bridges but other forms of engineering as well. Our transportation systems will change and evolve into more adequate ways to get around. We as humanity are simply crossing the gap into future development.
In 1998, the United States had passed a new transportation funding bill that was implemented to increase the spending of rebuilding by 40 percent for some of our everyday roads and other forms of transportation. With this bill passed new jobs in the transportation construction industry were created and to this today continue to grow. This it just one example that helps demonstrate how serious these applications are to civil engineers. The safety and well-being of our society are the main priorities to civil engineers everywhere. Creating solutions to complications that may occur remains a number one aspect and main value. We as administrative citizens can not afford to have more catastrophic events occur. Furthermore, with the new rating system developed, it can be applied to various systems and help us better understand the behavior of how different materials react over time towards elements of nature.
How does the Health index system help lead to safer more efficient bridges? Well by applying finite analysis and neural network modeling, engineers can now calculate and detect bridge damage in a more timely manner. This will help decrease the chances of catastrophic events, like the 2007 collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis. This rating system can also be applied to numerous other structures including dams, buildings, and airplanes simply because of the same network modeling system. This new network allows for inspectors and other fellow civil engineers to input parameters such as width, depth, and the location of the cracks in the bridges, and the network will give the health index of the bridge. 
You make excellent points on how bridges are aging, how civil engineers are affected, and how they're fixing the problem. I noticed you brought up the I-35W bridge collapse, a catastrophe that happened close to where I live. This was a very nicely written blog post, I enjoyed reading what you had to say.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job picking a topic that's really relevant to your field. Engineers have to keep up with the new technology they deal with and the bridge health system index is a good example of that. I also really liked the pictures you selected to go with the blog.
ReplyDeleteThe post was very well written, I thought it was very interesting learning about this new method and how it applies to your field.I also liked how you brought up examples to strengthen your thesis.
ReplyDeleteCivil engineers seem like they will always be in demand. The body of your post really strengthened this, I think. This rating system seems like it will be a great help in maintaining these structures.
ReplyDeleteGood job relating the need for cival engineers and how important they are to something that we all experienced with the collapse of the 94 bridge. The pictures also added great value. Good job.
ReplyDeleteGreat writen post!! I like that fact that by reading this post we could assume that civil engineers will always be needed becuse safety is very important. Great topic!
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