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Most People Don’t Think About Culverts. Their Failure Can Be Deadly.
The New York Times • • health
Key Points:
- Culverts, essential for directing streams and storm runoff under roads, are often overlooked but critical infrastructure; their failure can isolate communities and block emergency access.
- Nearly two-thirds of the U.S.’s six million culverts were built to standards inadequate for current storm conditions, increasing the risk of failure.
- Jessica Boakye, a civil and environmental engineering professor, conducted a detailed case study on culvert failures in Franklin County, Massachusetts, using a geospatial model to assess risks.
- The study incorporated local data on culvert conditions and hydrologic factors to assign failure probabilities, highlighting vulnerabilities in infrastructure that could lead to significant disruptions.
