While the collapse in Baltimore was a shock for that community and beyond, no one could have been less surprised than Dr. Nizar Lajnef, a civil engineering professor at Michigan State University.

After the shocking collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March 2024, engineers everywhere began asking a crucial question: how can we prevent tragedies like this in the future?

So, we have to look at ways to maintain and extend their life,” said Dr. Nizar Lajnef with MSU’s College of Engineering. Lajnef, Vishnu Boddeti, and graduate students in the College of ...