Traditional Infrastructure Gets A Digital Upgrade

Roads, bridges, dams and train lines. Schools and streetlights. For decades, infrastructure has been made of concrete, asphalt and steel. 

Increasingly, however, infrastructure is built with digital technologies. The goal: to make traditional infrastructure safer, more sustainable and more efficient. 

Consider some recent examples: energy usage by the City of San Diego, Calif. dropped by 60% when LED streetlights were paired with sensors that respond to light, sound and other signals. In Arizona, thermal cameras and warning signals prevented more than a dozen wrong-way drivers from entering highways in 2018. Residents of California are now the beneficiaries of an early warning system for earthquakes that gives them crucial time to get to safety.

And in New York, the newly completed replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge includes more than sensors that monitor structural conditions like cable strain, temperature, fatigue and corrosion. Other sensors monitor road conditions in harsh weather, while another set manages LED lighting on the bridge. 

“Digital transformation adds a new technological layer to existing infrastructure thereby enabling data to be transmitted in a standardized way,” said IEEE Senior Member Preethy Warrier.

Take a look at other ways that physical infrastructure is undergoing a digital transformation in the full article on IEEE Transmitter.