Engineers use bridge to educate
Zohaib Ahmad
Issue date: 11/20/09 Section: News
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Crossing the Delaware River, the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge connects northeast Philadelphia with Palmyra, New Jersey with 3,659 feet from abutment to abutment.
As stated in the press release, $200,000 worth of monitoring equipment will be used to capture real-time data from the bridge spans. This equipment includes a series of sensors that record information concerning the impact of traffic levels, temperature, and stress on the bridge.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Drexel researchers will use the data to develop computer models that "display the bridge's condition and its potential problems."
Furthermore, Drexel and the Burlington County Bridge Commission plan on using the models to help the commission to better allocate its resources for bridge maintenance.
Yet the question is piqued on whether bridges should be monitored.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Drexel began working with the bridge commission about monitoring issues after the I-35 bridge collapse in Minnesota in 2007. However, John Fisher, professor of engineering at Lehigh University, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he sees no need for long-term, real-time monitoring of bridges if the same bridges are designed properly and show no signs of distress.
"It has to be rationalized because, one, there's a cost associated with it, and two, why make measurements if they're not needed?" Fisher said.
Drexel's engineering students will be working alongside students from other universities and licensed engineers from Philadelphia-based Pennoni Associates. Students began using information garnered from the bridge in their coursework after a kick-off event Nov. 13.
"There is no question that this collaborative research project offers an outstanding opportunity to develop a new and more effective civil and environmental engineering education program," Franklin Moon, assistant professor of civil engineering at Drexel's College of Engineering stated in a press release.
Moon is the co-principal investigator alongside Drs. Patrick Gurian and Franco Montalto. The principal investigator is Dr. Emin Aktan.
According to Moon, the best way for civil engineering students to learn is by using operating infrastructure systems.
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