WABI, BDN quote Dagher in reports on new bridge technology for Brewer business

WABI (Channel 5) and the Bangor Daily News quoted Habib Dagher, founding executive director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine, in reports on new technology the center helped develop for a composite bridge business in Brewer. AIT Bridges and the UMaine Composites Center are launching a composite tub girder, which will be a “game changer” for bridge construction in Maine, according to WABI. “We call it the 72-hour bridge,” said Dagher. “The idea here is to build bridges a lot faster than we do today, a lot less expensive than we do today, and that would last quite a bit longer.” The technology will provide MaineDOT and others around the country with more options for bridge construction, the reports state. “If we can build bridges that last longer and take a lot less time to make and so forth, and create jobs in Maine at the same time, that’s a win for everybody,” Dagher said. “It’s a whole ecosystem that starts at UMaine, innovates and takes it to the real world. That’s really what’s exciting about all this,” Dagher told the BDN. Mainebiz, CompositesWorld and The Associated Press also reported on the technology collaboration. The Washington Times, News Center Maine and Portland Press Herald carried the AP report.