WLBZ2.com | Bangor, ME | U.S. Transportation Secretary Visits UMaine

ORONO (NEWS CENTER) -- U.S Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood visited the University of Maine Monday.

He was there to learn more about new bridge technology being developed at UMaine's Advanced Structures and Composites Center. He learned about what the center calls a "Bridge In A Backpack."

The carbon fiber fabric used to build the bridge unfolds, is inflated with air, coated with resin and filled with concrete. Center Director Habib Dahger says this process could save billions of dollars nationwide and significantly decrease the country's carbon footprint. Secretary LaHood says he plans to invite Dahgur to Washington to present the information to members of the cabinet.

"There's definitely a role in our government for what is going on here in this innovative incubator, is what I'd call it, where ideas count and where the research is very important," LaHood said.

A "Bridge In A Backpack" has already been built in Pittsfield. There are plans to build another one in northern Maine.

NEWS CENTER