April 12, 2016 | Eli Freund - School of Engineering

UConn Researchers Say Super-Strong Concrete Could Be a Fix for Nation’s Bridge Problems

Standing in a laboratory packed with various scientific instruments, University of Connecticut engineering professor Arash Zaghi gestured to three steel beams, modest in appearance where they sit under the large and brightly-painted hydraulic-powered machine capable of applying weights of up to 275 tons.

Arash Zaghi
UConn engineering professor Arash Zaghi sits to the right of the concrete cast he’s researching that could improve how engineers repair bridges. ( Ryan Caron King / WNPR )

By Ryan Caron King

Standing in a laboratory packed with various scientific instruments, University of Connecticut engineering professor Arash Zaghi gestured to three steel beams, modest in appearance where they sit under the large and brightly-painted hydraulic-powered machine capable of applying weights of up to 275 tons.

Engineers refer to these beams as girders, a key component in bridge support. These three girders, modeled after a bridge in the Hartford area, were pressed under the lab’s hydraulic load machine until their point of failure.

To read the rest of the story on NPR, click here.