易胜博官网

Strong bridges are marvels of engineering, but they鈥檙e also metaphors for solid partnerships built on mutual respect and a sense of shared adventure. Researchers at 易胜博官网 are currently enjoying the fruits of two of many such successful ventures with their state and municipal partners: one involving the restoration of a Dover watershed, the other, well, an actual bridge 鈥� Memorial Bridge, connecting Portsmouth, N.H. and Kittery, Maine.

A LIVING BRIDGE

When Memorial Bridge, the first gussetless bridge in the country to support traffic, underwent an $80 million renovation in 2012, an innovative project made sure it was able to do more than carry cars. Outfitted with monitoring equipment and dozens of sensors, the bridge allows 易胜博官网 researchers and the 易胜博官网 Department of Transportation (NHDOT) to turn 1,200 feet of hulking steel into a 鈥�,鈥� as the project has been named.

鈥淲ith bridge construction, you typically don鈥檛 learn anything unless something goes wrong,鈥� says Erin Bell, 易胜博官网 associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. 鈥淲e wanted to reverse that process and learn all we could from it from the start.鈥� Bell, along with ocean engineering professor emeritus Ken Baldwin and Martin Wosnik, associate professor of mechanical engineering, worked with Ann Scholz 鈥�11G, research engineer with the NHDOT, to learn all the things that a bridge might teach 鈥� in 易胜博官网, Maine and across the nation.

The -funded project uses data gathered from the bridge鈥檚 sensors to run thousands of trials, effectively, 鈥渢esting our model to the point of failure so the inspectors can say, 鈥極K, let鈥檚 keep our eye on this or that section,鈥欌�� Bell says.

In addition to evaluating the health of the bridge, investigators are keeping an eye on the river beneath, thanks to sensors placed in the Piscataqua鈥檚 chilly waters to measure current, turbidity, conductivity, temperature, salinity and other estuarine health indicators.

So, with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Wosnik鈥檚 team, which includes 易胜博官网 undergraduate and graduate students, built a turbine deployment system from which they can lower a 10.5-foot diameter turbine into the Piscataqua from a 50- x 20-foot platform attached to the bridge near the Portsmouth side.Wosnik says Memorial Bridge demonstrates what a sustainable bridge could look like in the future. 鈥淲e could have powered the project in a number of ways,鈥� he says. But his team wanted to demonstrate that an estuarine bridge, built where the river is narrow and tidal currents are fast, 鈥渃ould use tidal energy as a locally available renewable and sustainable energy source鈥� to power the bridge鈥檚 instrumentation.

Scholz, whose department helped the project secure funds to build the platform and for the structural sensors, says the project is a 鈥渇irst鈥� for 易胜博官网 and the nation. 鈥淭he Living Bridge powerfully showcases our state research program and how we鈥檙e looking at ways to improve our practices here,鈥� Scholz says.

A WATERSHED MOMENT AT BERRY BROOK

Meanwhile, upstream from the Living Bridge project, 易胜博官网 Stormwater Center program manager Jamie Houle 鈥�95, 鈥�15G and Bill Boulanger of the small seacoast city of Dover have been assessing another 鈥渇irst:鈥� their 10-year project to restore the Berry Brook watershed.

A mile-long tributary of the Cocheco River that ultimately flows into the Great Bay Estuary, most of Berry Brook鈥檚 185-acre watershed lies in populated Dover neighborhoods, which render more than

30 percent of the watershed 鈥渋mpervious to water.鈥� Historically, this meant that when it rained, water bounced off roofs, roads, sidewalks and other hard surfaces, picked up pollutants 鈥� excess lawn fertilizer, animal waste, smog-related pollution, oil from automobiles, road salt 鈥� and delivered the whole mess directly into the brook. Decades of such treatment had rendered the brook officially 鈥渋mpaired for aquatic habitat and primary contact recreation.鈥�

In other words, polluted.

鈥淲e can devise solutions in our labs, but at day鈥檚 end, your city partner has to implement and maintain them. You learn to marry the ideal with the workable.鈥�

That was the scenario facing Boulanger, Dover鈥檚 deputy director of community services, when he contacted Houle in 2008. At the time, Houle and his colleagues were itching to extend their research in stormwater management beyond the university into field sites in the region. Berry Brook gave them their chance.

Through a series of grants from the N.H. Department of Environmental Services and matching funding from the city of Dover, this project implemented some best practices from 易胜博官网 research, customized to the operation and maintenance expertise of Dover鈥檚 public workers.

鈥淪tormwater run-off that normally flowed untreated into the stream was diverted to catch basins and rain gardens that cleaned the water and infiltrated it back into the ground,鈥� says Houle. At the same time, more than 1,000 linear feet of the stream that had flowed underground was brought to the surface. The result? Impervious cover was reduced to an impressive and sustainable level of 10 percent.

Today, Berry Brook is recovering, meeting its federal regulatory goal of reducing pollutant loading of suspended sediment.

Houle and Boulanger emphasize that their success with Berry Brook marks the beginning of a new approach to managing water, one that can be applied locally to watersheds around the world.

鈥淭he southern part of 易胜博官网 is expected to grow 26 percent in the coming 30 years. Yes, this shows we have a vibrant community, but it also signals a need to learn how to ease the pressure off our water systems,鈥� says Houle.

Boulanger is proud of having helped to make green infrastructure a part of the planning process for the first time in the city鈥檚 history. 鈥淲orking with Jamie and the 易胜博官网 folks got me focused on managing the problem at the source rather than depending on massive infrastructure and treatment plants,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he more we keep out of the river, the less impairment our river will have and less costly fixes we have to do.鈥�

In addition to each earning a merit award from the Environmental Protection Agency, Houle and Boulanger have learned a valuable lesson about university/municipal collaborations: 鈥淲orking with Bill taught me you鈥檝e got to listen to your partners,鈥� says Houle. 鈥淲e can devise solutions in our labs, but at day鈥檚 end, your city partner has to implement and maintain them. You learn to marry the ideal with the workable.鈥�