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| ATLSS, based at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, is a national engineering research center devoted exclusively to large-structure industries. For example, ATLSS conducted research that guided the retrofit of bridges such as the Throgs Neck and Williamsburg bridges in New York. |
When a tragedy such as the Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis occurs, it focuses public attention on the condition of bridges everywhere. Drivers who typically don't give a thought to their commuting route find that deck conditions, bridge girders and corrosion begin to occupy their consciousness as much as traffic conditions.
Fortunately, for more than two decades, the Advanced Technology Center for Large Structural Systems (ATLSS) has been working to span the gap to safer crossings even as it has helped build and retrofit bridges in big cities such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City, as well as small towns such as Ford City, Pa.
ATLSS, based at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, is a national engineering research center devoted exclusively to large-structure industries. It focuses on the full life cycles of structural systems and materials for the infrastructure, including developing new systems and materials, assessing the condition of existing systems and materials, understanding system and material failures and pioneering the technology for repairing and retrofitting existing systems.
The center was established in 1986 with grants from the National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Centers and supported in its early years with additional funding from the Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BFTP). ATLSS still works closely with BFTP and its client companies.
"BFTP was one of the funding sources that helped us get started," says ATLSS director Richard Sause, the Joseph T. Stuart Professor of Structural Engineering at Lehigh. "The place where we have the most common interests with BFTP is through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA)." PITA, funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, is designed to enhance economic development in the Commonwealth through knowledge transfer, new technology development and the retention of highly skilled students.
“The big push today—and where ATLSS is making a difference—is developing bridges that are faster to build, more economical and safer.”
—RICHARD SAUSE, ATLSS DIRECTOR,
THE JOSEPH T. STUART PROFESSOR
OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING,
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
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The Critical Importance of Testing
"ATLSS conducts research in areas that directly impact current and future infrastructure technology," says Sause. "The big push today--and where ATLSS is making a difference--is developing bridges that are faster to build, more economical and safer."
ATLSS's efforts range from working with the U.S. Navy on new materials and systems for ship-building to working with industry and government agencies to develop technology and materials for the civil infrastructure. For example, ATLSS conducted research that guided the retrofit of bridges such as the Throgs Neck and Williamsburg bridges in New York, where it helped develop a new bridge deck system to extend the life of those bridges. "These are multi-hundred-million dollar retrofits of big bridges used by hundreds of thousands of vehicles per day," Sause says, and testing the system beforehand is extremely important.
ATLSS has worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on technology demonstration projects that include new bridges in Bradford and Forest Counties. Sause says ATLSS has been involved in the development of new steel for highway bridges since the early 1990s and is now developing new materials and systems for rapid construction of new bridges, as well as technology for inspecting and maintaining existing bridges.
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