UTSA Civil Engineering professor aids in bridge safety
Arturo Montoya
Arturo Montoya
Share this Story(July 3, 2013) -- According to a recent report issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers, one in nine of the nation's bridges are rated as structurally deficient. When a bridge collapses, it raises questions about the safety of millions of travelers. How did it pass inspection? What could have been done to prevent it from collapsing?
Arturo Montoya, assistant professor of civil engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), studies the aging of structures, such as steel bridges. This summer, he will embark on a yearlong project funded by a seed grant from UTSA and the Southwest Research Institute to develop a complex mathematical modeling system to determine the rate at which a steel structure deteriorates over time due to environmental factors.
"A bridge's age, design, traffic rate and load size are all currently figured into visual inspections," says Montoya. "However, another important factor that has not been incorporated into bridge inspections is the environmental impact on the structure's components. For example, a steel bridge near the ocean will corrode more quickly due to higher exposure to salt compared to the exact same bridge in San Antonio."
With the start-up funds, Montoya has purchased an accelerated corrosion chamber that he and his students will use to test the corrosion rate of steel under different environmental conditions. This research will help transportation agencies and safety inspectors more accurately predict a bridge's service time based on the probability of deterioration due to environmental conditions.
To learn more about the UTSA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, visit http://engineering.utsa.edu/CE. Connect online with UTSA at www.utsa.edu, www.facebook.com/utsa, www.twitter.com/utsa or www.youtube.com/utsa.
Events
Stalking 101 will help students, faculty, and staff to recognize stalking (Know it), understand the different ways stalking affects victims (Name it), and how to help someone who may be affected by it (Stop it). This is BYOB--Bring your own brown bag lunch event, so bring your lunch and learn about stalking.
Wellbeing Service Meeting Room, RWC 1.806, Main CampusJoin us virtually as we unveil the new College of Education and Human Development’s (COEHD) Student Success Center. Learn about how this Center is designed to assist Undergraduate COEHD students with a successful academic transition from entry to graduation, provide support and mentorship and serve as a resource center and hub to enhance their academic journey. There will also be UTSA and Pop Culture Education Trivia and giveaways as well.
Virtual EventJoin this week’s Roost weekly tournament series at the Roost. Compete against your friends, roommates and classmates. Registration is required. Limited spots available.
Roost Game Room, H-E-B Student Union 2.220, Main CampusThis session will begin with a brief introduction and overview of the NSF CAREER program followed by audience Q&A with past NSF CAREER awardees.
Virtual EventCareer Conversations are informal virtual networking events on Thursday evenings between graduate business students and company representatives.
Virtual EventSession for faculty on how to develop strong outreach and education components to meet NSF’s broader impacts requirements. (Note that the emphasis will not be on education components for NSF CAREER proposals, which are covered in an on-demand NSF CAREER webinar also available to UTSA faculty.)
Virtual EventThis institute is for Graduate Students. It will consist of eight 45-minute sessions. Participants will be introduced to applications included in Adobe Creative Cloud, a tool that is free for all UTSA students. Attendees will be able to complete short projects that will give them the opportunity to produce artifacts that they can use to improve their digital literacy skills and prepare them for their life after they finish their UTSA journey.
Virtual Event
