Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

After the tragic collapse of the I-35 W bridge in Minneapolis last August, experts from Iowa State University’s Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering and Bridge Engineering Center were called upon by national, state, and local media outlets to weigh in on the safety of America’s bridges. Below is a sampling of our experts’ comments on bridge safety excerpted from news stories.

Safety of Iowa Bridges

“The bridges in Iowa are very, very safe. The vast majority of bridges have multiple parts to absorb stress, aging, and injury.”

—Brent Phares, CCEE professor and associate
director of the Bridge Engineering Center
Source: Des Moines Register

Funding for Bridge Repairs

“Let’s face it: It’s not a popular thing to throw money at maintaining something as dull as a bridge.”

—Terry Wipf, CCEE professor and
director of the Bridge Engineering Center
Source: USA Today

Quality of Bridge Materials

“The fail rate of any one element is gradual, as opposed to more brittle material, that gives you more time to respond.”

—Brent Phares
Source: DiscoveryChannel.com

1990s Federal Study on Reliability of Visual Bridge Inspections

“Those inspections were not very good or reliable. They frequently missed cracks. That points to the potential need for better technology that is easy to use and makes better assessments than we can do visually.”

—Brent Phares
Source: DiscoveryChannel.com

Can Construction Harm a Deficient Bridge?

“Not in and of itself. Usually the idea with construction is that you’re improving the quality of the bridge.”

—Brent Phares
Source: Des Moines Register

The I-35 W Bridge Collapse

“There are a number of potential causes. The bridge was considered ‘fatigue sensitive.’ That means if one part of the bridge failed, there was a good chance the entire structure could fail.”

 
—Brent Phares
Source: Des Moines Register