ASCE will be sunsetting the Civil Engineering Database (CEDB) in the coming months. We encourage you to start using the ASCE Library to perform content searches. In the ASCE Library, you can save your search results as well as receive email content alerts when new content relevant to your area of interest is published. Try it out today at https://ascelibrary.org.

 

U.S. Bridges: The Bias Towards Mediocrity

by Rowland Richards, Jr., Prof. of Civ. Engrg.; State Univ. of New York, Buffalo, N.Y.,


Serial Information: Civil Engineering—ASCE, 1983, Vol. 53, Issue 4, Pg. 62-66


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract:

This article contends that in this century the United States has lost its leadership in bridge design and explores reasons why this came to be. Comparative examples of various bridge types are presented and some human factors, primarily the legal conventions of bridge construction in this country and other disincentives, are proposed to explain in part what the author sees as the general mediocrity of current bridge design in the United States. New initiatives are also noted. As remedies, the author recommends a reawakening of the adventurous spirit in finding creative new solutions to design problems, as well as new ways of doing business. The article is profusely illustrated with photos of domestic and foreign bridges.

Subject Headings: Bridge design | Infrastructure construction | Human and behavioral factors | Legal affairs | Leadership | Comparative studies | Bridges

Services: Buy this book/Buy this article

 

Return to search