Detecting Bridge Problems Goes High-Tech
Precision Technology Used In Europe Is Available In U.S., But The Money For It Often Isn't
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Play CBS Video Video Tools To Detect Bridge Cracks Only On The Web: There are more than a few ways to monitor bridge safety before it's too late. Sheila MacVicar reports on some of the gadgets being used in Europe.
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Video More Than Meets The Eye Only On The Web: High-tech devices can "see" bridge cracks much sooner than the human eye, and don't have to be expensive. One American company is already providing devices in Europe.
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Video Inspection Technology Outdated Sensory technology is widely used in Europe to inspect bridge deficiencies. Much of it is made in the U.S., but governments don't want to spend the cash to buy it. Sheila MacVicar reports.
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High-tech sensors can help check for problems in bridges, but transportation authorities across the U.S. say they can't pay for them. (CBS)
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Interactive Span Of The Disaster Photos, video and a look at the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed during rush hour
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Photo Essay In The Aftermath Following the rush hour collapse of a bridge in Minnesota, rescue efforts, investigations and mourning.
If inspectors can't see a problem, they can't know something's wrong.
But in Europe, with some of the most spectacular new bridges and some of the most beautiful old ones, bridge owners are turning to new technology to check on the health of their bridges around the clock.
"Inspection is a very useful tool, but it's restricted to the surface of the bridge — and not all the deficiencies can be found," says Daniel Inaudi of Smartec. "You'd like to make the analogy to your doctor."
Like your doctor's tests, high-tech bridge sensing gets to the heart of the matter, reports CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar.
Only On The Web: More Than Meets The Eye
Fiber-optic sensors are embedded into the concrete, "and by measuring the time the light takes to travel through the fiber, we can measure the deformation of the bridge," Inaudi explained.
For older bridges, there's a special tape that's embedded with a fiber-optic filament. It will be glued to a 40-year-old bridge in Sweden.
"We can install a tape like this that can be several kilometers long and then pinpoint to one-meter precision where the problem is happening," says Inaudi.
The technology isn't restricted to Europe; it's also made in America.
"We're able to capture data that is less than one-tenth the width of a human hair," says Atlanta's Peter Vanderzee, who markets a similar kind of remote sensing for bridge managers in the U.S.
"Every time we go to them and present our technology, we generally hear a big 'Wow. That's a very interesting piece of technology. We'd like to use it, but we don't have the money,'" says Vanderzee.
Across America, transportation authorities say they are financially strapped. Some say they have a hard time even finding the money to buy paint.
Until they know exactly what caused the catastrophic collapse in Minneapolis, advocates of remote bridge sensing say they won't know for sure if the new technology would have given a warning. But they do say inspectors and engineers would have had a much better idea of what shape the bridge was in.
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- Take part of the money just handed to some of the unappreciative foreign countries who *** about us all the time, and that should be plenty enough to maintain our bridges.
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