Transportation agencies plan for events like major bridge or highway collapses, but these events can disrupt traffic for months and affect residential neighborhoods as well as motorists.
Crowds gather at dusk in Austin, Texas, to watch some 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge to feed from their roost under the Congress Avenue Bridge.
Jeff Haynes/AFP via Getty Images
Bats roost under bridges and culverts across North America, so highway departments have to check for them before repairing bridges. A new AI tool makes those inspections faster and more accurate.
Could a secret ingredient make crumbling concrete a thing of the past?
m_e_mccarron
Congrui Jin, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Adding a bit of fungus to the initial ingredient list might be one way to endow concrete with the ability to fill in any bits of damage that occur, without the need for human intervention.
The vehicle-based microwave system, making the streets safe again.
Zanko et al., 2016
Crews patch them, just to see these recurrent potholes come back again. New research focuses on microwaves zapping patches to make a more permanent pothole fix.