Hi Reddit! I’m Ed, a masters student at the University of Bath! I’m researching what happens when extreme floods hit masonry arch bridges - the kind of historic stone bridges you see all over the UK.
When rivers flood, bridges can cause water to back up upstream. Engineers call this “afflux,” but in simple terms it’s the extra rise in water level caused by the bridge acting like a partial blockage. During very fast, high-energy floods (called supercritical flow), many of the tools engineers use don’t work very well.
My research develops new equations and practical tools to better predict how much bridges raise flood levels during extreme events. With climate change increasing flood risk, understanding this behaviour is becoming more important for infrastructure safety and resilience — especially for rural communities where a single bridge can threaten homes, farmland, roads and local businesses upstream.
If you’ve ever wondered:
- Do old bridges make flooding worse?
- How do engineers predict flood levels?
- What happens when rivers flow too fast?
- What’s it like doing research in civil engineering?
Ask me anything!
Proof: Ed Cosson Proof | Reddit AMA | University of Bath | Flickr
[link] [comments]