A new infrastructure approach could save millions per year, say researchers

2021-04-21T11:19:00-04:00

With infrastructure negotiations currently taking center stage in the United States’ political discourse, researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) have published their findings on how a new approach to infrastructure maintenance would save federal and state governments millions of dollars per year. A study produced by the UGA’s College of Engineering proposes a new model for bridge infrastructure which prioritizes the incremental maintenance of key components, in contrast to current national strategies that favor replacement and rebuilding.

When determining the long-term health of a bridge in the United States, current strategies rely on a basic broad depreciation formula. The researchers believe such a method generates overly conservative assessments of how long infrastructure could last before full replacement. The UGA’s “bridge coactive model” instead considers the interaction of 60 to 80 bridge components in predicting long-term bridge performance, and assesses how regular...

A (new) road to Zanskar

2012-04-23T19:01:00-04:00

The only exception is in the early months of the year, when the plummeting temperatures (-30°C is not uncommon) allow the Zanskar river to freeze and the pathless gorge to be negotiated. If you do not mind walking on the ice, that is.

Paul Howard reports that the remote Himalayan region of Zanskar accessible only by frozen river, ice-bridge for as much as half the year will be connected to the outside via a new road, giving the community a permanent connection.

Earlier this year Jonathan Mingle trekked "the Chadar", a 40-mile journey mostly spent walking on the frozen, sometimes disconcertingly thin surface of the Zanskar River, for the NYT Travel section.

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A new infrastructure approach could save millions per year, say researchers

A (new) road to Zanskar