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Hurricane Helene Destroyed Roads. Here’s How to Rebuild—and Flood-Proof Them for Next Time
As it becomes clear that climate change devastation can hit anywhere, engineers are considering how best to protect vital thoroughfares from intense storms.
Florida—arguably the national leader in protecting assets from floodwaters— says it has contributed infrastructure damage-assessment teams and temporary bridge materials, which likely include lower-weight steel structures that can be erected without too many tools. In the short term, engineers might, for example, replace a washed-away 4-foot culvert (a drain pipe under a road) with whatever size they have premade and close by, knowing they’ll eventually have to go back and install a much deeper, 20-foot version, says Marshia. “It’s like caramel popcorn, or a Rice Krispie bar,” says Nara Almeida, who studies the material as an assistant teaching professor in the civil engineering program at the University of Washington Tacoma.
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