• Engineering researchers at Kansas State University wanted to find a way to smooth out subjective differences in bridge inspectors' ratings because those affect repair priorities.
• In the model, inspectors enter data they collect, such as width, depth and location of cracks in the concrete, and the system looks at what it has learned from data about thousands of bridges and calculates a health index number.
• The research has been using synthetic materials so far to measure known damage and predict future damage. The next step is to create concrete beams to test in the lab and then to begin tests on bridges in the field.

From the article:

A ratings system developed by a group of Kansas State University researchers could keep bridges safer and help prevent catastrophic collapses. ...