I never understood how underwater bridges never collapse. Like they are constantly submerged under water, how do they resist rust? Like ships and other man made objects in the water always het destroyed so how do they do it with bridges?
In: Engineering
A big part of the system are galvanic anodes (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_anode)
Basically they attach metal that corrodes easier and faster than the structure itself. Protecting the structure and sacrificing the anodes.
Water causes chemical corrosion, particularly salt water. Engineers know this, and choose materials that are corrosion resistant, or coat materials in protective paint/concrete/… so they are not exposed to as much water.
With some clever science tricks a) corrosion can be directed to a sacrificial anode (basically a piece of more reactive metal that would rather corrode than the bridge metal) (Note: corrosion is still technically happening but to a different piece of metal. b) paints and cement can act as a barrier to inhibit corrosion too.
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