Balsa bridges - with a twist

A bridge with a balsa wood core was built in Bex, Switzerland. The prefabricated bridge deck was mounted in a single day. How much weight can a bridge made of balsa wood carry? When encased in a layer of fiber-reinforced resin, much more than you would expect, say engineers from EPFL. On October 12th, a composite bridge deck with a balsa wood core replaced an almost 100 year old concrete bridge in Bex, Switzerland. The new bridge, one lane wider than its predecessor and designed to last a century, was ready to carry traffic only a few days later, after having been covered by a layer of asphalt. The road will, however, be closed for construction work until October 24. Replacing the concrete deck with a composite one comes with several advantages.