News — Mimic human spine

Engineers to mimic the human spine in construction of resilient bridge pier A durable, low-maintenance and low-carbon bridge pier inspired by the anatomy of the human spine is being developed in the UK. The bridge pier, which could be built in just one or two days and easily demounted at the end of its useful life, is being developed by researchers at Southampton University with funding from EPSRC. In use, it will be designed to withstand earthquakes and damage caused by traffic and cold weather. Existing bridges, particularly those in colder countries such as the UK, US, Canada and Japan,...