The Learning Bridge

With support from NSF, Franklin Moon, an associate professor of civil engineering at Drexel University, along with a number of collaborators, is using modern technology to help manage and preserve bridges while also providing a unique and much needed infrastructure resource for civil engineering laboratory development and learning. Appropriately called "The Learning Bridge," the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge located in Tacony, Pa. and Palmyra, N.J., is one of the main bridges involved in this collaborative research, which is a partnership among Drexel University, Texas A&M University, Purdue University and Northeastern University, as well as the Burlington County Bridge Commission and Pennoni Associates. By attaching sensors, monitoring devices and cameras to the bridge, the researchers stream live data and video into classrooms, allowing civil engineering students to observe key engineering concepts.