This summer, Utah is running its first hydro demolition project. The name's misleading, because the state's department of transportation is using H2O to give two bridges a much-needed facelift. It's an easier, faster, cheaper, and maybe more sustainable way to expand the span's useful life by 15 years.

The tool for the job, a hydro demolition tractor, works something like a Waterpik. But instead of firing water at 10 to 90 PSI to get that corn out from between your teeth, its works at 36,000 PSI to decimate concrete. Once it's knocked out three or four inches of the stuff, workers can see the thin, smooth, and freshly washed layer of pavement and reinforcing steel that forms the structural basis of the bridge. If they verify that's all good, they lay down a fresh coat of asphalt, making for a nicer drive.