A steel bridge originally intended only for research in a lab remained strong enough through testing to become a viable real-world structure. In late October, it was officially set in place for an unforeseen second life.

The town of Kent, N.Y., set a 40-ft-long steel bridge as a pedestrian crossing over a small section of Lake Carmel on October 31, solidifying its reuse after serving its purpose as a custom-built research test structure at the University at Buffalo. The bridge has 6-ft girder spacing, is supported by W27x84 sections, and is outfitted with buckling-restrained braces (BRBs)--all as part of a project to test the seismic resilience BRBs could provide in a bridge.