In an innovative approach to sustainable infrastructure, Georgia Tech Research Institute Principal Research Engineer Jud Ready has spearheaded the installation of a bridge in Atlanta’s Beaverbrook Park using decommissioned wind turbine blades.

Ready, a principal researcher engineer in GTRI's Electro-Optical Systems Laboratory (EOSL) who has been actively involved in the park’s development since his graduate student days, identified the need for a pedestrian bridge to enhance accessibility.

Collaborating with Professor Russell Gentry from Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture and leveraging support from organizations such as the Re-Wind Network, Ready facilitated the adaptive reuse of a 15-meter, 7,000-pound wind turbine blade sourced from a Colorado wind farm.

This project not only exemplifies innovative recycling practices but is also another example of GTRI's researchers being "the foremost innovators creating a secure nation, a prosperous Georgia, and a sustainable world."

Read more here:  https://matter-systems.gatech.edu/news/bridging-gap-reusing-wind-turbine-blades-build-bridges

Writer: Christopher Weems

GTRI Communications
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 2,900 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $940 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.