How The Sound Of Rain Helps Engineers Diagnose Unsafe Bridges
Brian Mazzeo and Spencer Guthrie Brigham Young UniversityStructurally flawed bridges produce a different sound when splashed with water. If we listen in during the rain, we can hear the problem--and fix it--before it gets worse. To test the safety of a bridge, engineers rely on some pretty low-tech methods. One common way of doing it is to drag a chain across the bridge and listen in for the hollow-sounding spots. But, weirdly, an even-lower-tech method might speed things along: Have the rain do the work for you. In the same way that structural deficiencies can be detected with something solid, two engineers from Brigham Young University--Brian Mazzeo and Spencer Guthrie--are listening in for the tell-tale acoustics by splashing bridges with water. They're looking for something called "delamination." In a concrete bridge deck, the layers used to build the bridge can become separated over time--it's a major concern with some aging bridges....