I’m a (small) part in a major research project looking at longevity of these types of structures, including concrete that can sense and report when it is deteriorating and even newer concretes that could contain self-healing additives, that like skin, lie dormant for years and years but then in response to damage spring into life and repair damage at source.
It has been very instructive attending meetings and conferences with the architects and engineers involved in major civil engineering projects and understanding exactly what sorts of thought processes go into the design of these projects and how those parameters have changed and are changing in the light of modern materials and philosophies.
I’m not an engineer (I’m a chemist) but I’ve been incredibly impressed with the folks from the major infrastructure agencies (Highways, Railways, etc.) who want to have structures that are incredibly resilient, so they don’t have to be decommissioned for repair and replacement – partly because of the effect that has on the economy (traffic jams, delays in freight moving and so on) but above all so that workers don’t need to risk their lives working on structures while 38 tonne trucks whizz past at 50mph. Their ‘enemy’ is mainly government, who don’t have the budgets to build this level of resilience and so when they see the cost of building the proper solution then start cutting corners to hit a price point.
Not saying that’s the case here but I suspect the engineering brief for the italian bridge wasn’t ‘build me the best bridge you can’ but ‘what’s the best you can do for X Bn Lira? Oh, and make it look cool while you’re at it’
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