FIU introduces new technology for the bridge maintenance
FIU introduces new technology for the bridge maintenance
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article315942668.html
Publish Date: 2026-06-05 05:00:00
Source Domain: www.miamiherald.com
A sniffing dog may save a crumbling bridge.
A new toolkit, including a team of dogs, sprayable concrete and an MRI-like machine that can diagnose steel, can help engineers diagnose, strengthen and save ailing bridges. Florida International University researchers are helping to develop the new methods to discover and manage bridge corrosion.
There are about 620,000 bridges in the United States, with the many only in fair condition. Florida has around 13,000 of those bridges.
FIU is leading a seven-university collaboration funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s University Transportation Center Program for the mission of addressing the aging infrastructure with next-generation solutions.
Rather than replace a bridge when it fails, the university research collaboration could find ways to make repairs instead.
Last week, FIU hosted members of the DOT on its engineering campus to showcase of new technologies.
“The ability to take localization, some of the work [they’re] doing here at FIU, and really broaden the nation’s spectrum of capabilities… that’s what it’s going to take,” said Seval Oz, assistant secretary of the U.S. DOT’s Office of Research and Technology. “We’re right here, at the right moment in time, to … expand on that and build it into our nation’s bridge construction and repair maintenance and inspection efforts.
“So, the eyes of the nation are on South Florida for this project.”
The presentation included two trained dogs, Loki and Pixie, of five total that have been taught to sniff out the chemical odor of corrosion. Before the event, blind field tests found the dogs correctly alerted areas of corrosion through concrete cylinders with a hit rate of 98.7%.
Associate Professor at Florida International University, Pezhman Mardanpour, and Lucila Santoni of Innovative Detection Concepts play with…
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