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UNH To Lead Study Of Climate Change's Impact On Roads And Bridges

Flikr Creative Commons / Mortmer

The National Science Foundation has given The University of New Hampshire $750,000to coordinate the study of the impacts of Climate Change on roads and bridges.

The grant moneywill establish a network of Northeast climate scientists and civil engineers led by UNH researchers.

Professor Jennifer Jacobs says this network can work together to research things like how more rainfall and milder winters will affect transportation infrastructure.

Jacobs: It’s not just about culverts.

Jacobs says, climate change might result in bigger maintenance bills, which states could better plan for,

And it could also change how roads and bridges are built.

Jacobs: maybe you could start differently at the design phase, perhaps you could redo the design early on to avoid those additional maintenance costs.

Jacobs says researchers will work on how to make pavement, bridges and road systems stand up better to predicted increases in wind, rain and weather.

Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. He shifted gears in 2016 and began producing Outside/In, a podcast and radio show about “the natural world and how we use it.” His work has won him several awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow awards, one national Murrow, and the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best environmental reporting in any medium. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter.
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