Description

Outline

AI Applications in Bridge Engineering: From Foundations to Practice

Artificial intelligence is transforming bridge engineering, moving from theoretical research to practical applications in design, inspection, monitoring and management. This webinar provides a foundational overview of key technologies, including machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, digital twins, generative AI and large language models.

Participants will explore real-world applications such as drone-assisted automated bridge inspections, structural health monitoring, predictive maintenance planning and AI-assisted design workflows. The session highlights advanced uses in structural performance prediction, leveraging AI and physics-based data to model complex material behavior, generate nonlinear pushover response curves for reinforced concrete bridge piers, assess structural conditions and evaluate regional bridge network seismic resilience.

Finally, the presentation addresses how engineering firms can integrate AI into traditional workflows while upholding the industry standard of care. Attendees will learn to create transparent, checkable AI-assisted models while examining critical issues surrounding ethics, liability, bias mitigation and safety—reinforcing that AI complements, but never replaces, sound engineering judgment.

Presenters

Maryam Bostani, HDR

Dr. Maryam Bostani is the AI Practice Lead for Bridges and Structures at HDR, bringing 16 years of combined industry and research experience to the application of artificial intelligence in engineering. Since 2019, she has conducted applied research through the HDR Fellowship Program, with a focus on AI-based bridge management systems. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Brown University and contributed to national research initiatives through NCHRP projects on AI opportunities for transportation agencies and AI-enabled decision support systems. She is active with TRB and serves as Vice Chair of the Transportation Association of Canada’s Digital Applications Committee.

Muntasir Billah, University of Calgary

Dr. Muntasir Billah is an Associate Professor and Schulich Research Chair in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calgary. He earned his PhD in structural engineering from the University of British Columbia, where he received the 2016 Governor General’s Gold Medal. His research focuses on performance-based seismic design and retrofit of bridges, multi-hazard infrastructure resilience, high-performance materials, and artificial intelligence in structural engineering. Dr. Billah has published more than 90 peer-reviewed journal papers and 95 conference papers and serves in leadership roles with the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and ACI Committee 341.

Jeff Svatora, HDR

Jeff Svatora is the Bridges & Structures Technology Leader for HDR and is based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. He has 14 years of experience designing and analyzing complex bridge structures at HDR. Over the past five years, his work has increasingly focused on digital workflows for bridge and structural engineering, and during the past year he has been integrating artificial intelligence into those workflows. His experience combines traditional bridge design and analysis with emerging digital tools, giving him a practical perspective on how AI can be incorporated into engineering processes and applied to real-world bridge and structural work.

Testimonials

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Applies Toward the Following:

• 2027 Structural Engineering Series : Full Series