Group of engineers including one at the University of Houston, says satellites can help monitor health of aging bridges

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Engineers from around the world, including one from the University of Houston, said satellites can be utilized to detect cracks the width of a credit card, leading to important fixes and preventing tragedies.

“It’s pretty incredible, again, this is the marvel, the world of physics,” University of Houston engineering professor Dr. Pietro Milillo said.

Milillo is one of a handful of experts around the world using satellites to inspect bridges. Here in the Houston area, that includes the Houston Sidney Sherman Bridge, Baytown Fred Hartman Bridge, and Port Arthur Rainbow Bridge

“Bridges connect people, connect economies, so they are not just cement,” Milillo said.

Milillo said his goal is to make this technology a companion to the processes already in place. He said the long-span bridges they’re focused on are inspected every two years in the U.S. Newer bridges are constructed with technology built in to detect problems , Milillo said, but the majority of American bridges were built long before then. This new tech could help bridge the gap.

“We can observe bridges, and detect movements with higher frequency. I’m talking about a weekly basis or bi-weekly basis, we can reduce the risk of damage and ageing affecting these bridges here,” Milillo said.

Now that the team has confirmed they can monitor bridges, Milillo said they’re working to connect with stakeholders such as transportation departments and toll-road authorities around the world to add this extra layer of observation to their arsenals.

“In the United States, the system of bridges over here are aging. Most bridges are reaching their design life, and we need to take care of them. This puts them at high risk,” Milillo said.

Milillo said their study was done with just a handful of satellites, but already, people are getting on board. NASA recently launched a satellite, Milillo said, which will soon have data for the team.

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