For a researcher who studies the ways society’s infrastructure systems are interconnected and interdependent, the Interstate 85 collapse this spring in Atlanta had a silver lining. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Assistant Professor Iris Tien told Atlanta public radio station WABE that shutting down one of the city’s main thoroughfares presented a rare opportunity — despite the disruption to businesses and the extra travel time for residents.
The grassroots group organized by Georgia Tech students to improve the transit experience for metro Atlanta deployed at the beginning of the work week to help first-time riders navigate the system. The MARTA Army positioned volunteers at nine MARTA train stations to help people opting to ride public transit for the first time after a section of Interstate 85 collapsed March 30.
Reporters looking for insight into the collapse of the Interstate 85 bridge in Atlanta talked with four School of Civil and Environmental Engineering professors in the hours afterward in an effort to understand how the structure crumbled.
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Mason Building, 790 Atlantic Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332-0355
Phone: 404-894-2201
Fax: 404-894-2278