The grant from the National Academy of Sciences is aimed at identifying technologies and designs to renovate existing bridges and develop guidelines for designing longer-lasting new bridges. The focus will be on bridges with spans of 100m or less, which includes 95% of bridges in the USA.

The research will be led by civil engineering professor Atorod Azizinamini. He said the team will study whether the new generation of high-performance steel and concrete materials can be used for individual bridge components. The team also will identify construction strategies for helping engineers renovate existing bridges without causing major traffic disruptions.