Using AI to Improve Bridge Asset Management
HDR’s Maryam Bostani Discusses How Artificial Intelligence Can Be Harnessed to Improve Decision Making
Bridges are aging across North America, with mounting costs related to their upkeep and eventual replacement. In the latest from HDR’s Experts Talk interview series, Maryam Bostani, Ph.D., P.Eng. explains how artificial intelligence opens new possibilities for infrastructure owners who are determining how to best maintain these assets over the long term.
Bostani has spent her career researching and applying AI to complex engineering challenges. A registered professional engineer in Canada, her work has focused on developing AI-based bridge management systems that enhance life-cycle planning and support data-informed investment decisions.
“The intersection of artificial intelligence and bridge engineering is not about replacing traditional expertise,” Bostani said, “it is about strengthening it. It is about using data more intelligently to support safer, more strategic infrastructure decisions.”
Her work has led to an AI tool that provides forecasts of bridge conditions on a network level — across an entire geographic region — and for individual bridges. Using inputs like available budget or minimum condition thresholds, it optimizes options for bridge repair and replacement, allowing transportation agencies to compare trade-offs between cost, risk and overall condition. It helps bridge owners plan how to use their finite resources to extend the life and usefulness of these important community assets.
For more, read the whole interview with Bostani on AI-powered bridge management.
HDR’s Experts Talk interview series shines a light on various aspects of transportation infrastructure design and delivery. Each subject matter expert offers unique expertise and insights about new and ongoing trends, emerging technologies and the human side of infrastructure.
