Lessons from Major Bridge Failures - Lichtenstein Distinguished Lecture

Lessons from Major Bridge Failures

The collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis on August 1, 2007 has again raised the concern of the public about bridge safety. As State Senator Amy Klobucher said shortly after the collapse in an interview with USA Today, “A bridge in America just shouldn’t fall down.” Yet collapses and major failures continue to occur. This presentation will highlight some of the collapses and major bridge failures that have occurred in the United States. Two or three in-depth case studies will be presented. The presentation will conclude with discussion of underlying issues that recur in bridge failures.

Speaker: John M Hanson, North Carolina State University

Dr. John M. Hanson joined the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University as a Distinguished Professor in 1993, after 20 years of professional practice with the research and consulting engineering firm of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. He was President of the firm, which is headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, for 13 years. Prior to joining WJE in 1972, Dr. Hanson conducted several major research programs on structural concrete while with the R&D Laboratories of the Portland Cement Association in Skokie, Illinois. Dr. Hanson received degrees at South Dakota State University and Iowa State University before joining the faculty at Lehigh University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1964. He was President of ACI in 1990-91, and President of IABSE from 1993-1996. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1992, in recognition of investigations of damage, deterioration and failure of structures. He was elected an Honorary Member of American Society of Civil Engineers in 2002.

Host: Hojjat Adeli (phone: 614-292-7929)