Warming World is Harming Bridges, Making Them Less Safe

Climate change appears to be speeding up the crumbling of human-built structures like vital bridges. 

A number of studies show that rising temps are harming the support structures on bridges. The heat buckles concrete. It warps steel beams and girders. And it erodes the soil on which bridges stand. That, combined with more frequent and intense flooding is bringing stressed bridges down.     

Paul Chinowsky told The New York Times it's getting so hot “that the pieces that hold the concrete and steel, those bridges can literally fall apart like Tinkertoys.” He's a civil engineering professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

A 2019 study published in the journal PLOS ONE found that rising temps could cause 25% of all US steel bridges to fall by 2050. Making the problem worse is that 1 in 4 bridges in the US need repairs. EVs also present a new challenge. The nation’s bridges could require more support as more drivers switch to heavier EVs. Some EVs exceed the 6,000-pound weight limit on many bridges.     

This means governments will have to address the problem sooner. It could also mean spending a great deal of taxpayer money to get the job done. That price tag could come to more than the $110 billion included in the 2021 infrastructure law passed by Congress to upgrade bridges and roads, among other projects. Construction standards will also need to be rewritten for a changing world.  

“We’re learning from the events that are being thrown at us, and trying to change and build for what climate change throws next,” Jim Tymon told the Times. “But it’s a moving target.”  Tymon heads the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Reflect: How might changes in the environment impact the things you use every day?

Photo of a bridge from Unsplash courtesy of Evan Phillip.