About This Lesson
This is a new type of pipe that can stretch, bend and compress. It’s supposed to withstand huge disasters, such as earthquakes and floods. Engineers designed a first-of-its-kind performance test using a National Science Foundation-funded Earthquake Engineering Simulation facility at Cornell University in collaboration with University of California, Berkeley, and University of Cambridge. They buried the pipe in 80 tons of dirt and simulated an earthquake. This was the first use of advanced sensors to monitor underground infrastructure. The new sensors measured strain, temperature, movement and leakage. Engineers need testbeds like this to design infrastructure that keeps water, power and telecommunications running when disaster strikes.
Provided by National Science Foundation
