A New System for Preventing Bridge Collapses

In this perspective, the authors examine catastrophic bridge failures and recommend ways to prevent them in the future. Failure causes and events, usually connected to or the result of extreme events, rather than poor maintenance or design standard deviation, are outlined. The authors advocate examination of both the progressive failure of entire bridge systems and the failure of materials at the microscopic level. Terrorism threats, multihazard events, and comprehensive bridge monitoring are all discussed.