New tech to help protect bridges, other infrastructure from scour
Monday, November 15, 2010 - 12:31
in Earth & Climate
New technology allows engineers to assess the scour potential of soils at various depths and on-site for the first time -- which will help evaluate the safety of civil infrastructure before and after storm events. Scour, or erosion of soil around structures due to water flow, is responsible for a wide range of critical infrastructure failures -- from unstable bridges to the levees that gave way in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.