Improved Complex Bridge Design and Delivery Through Model-Based Workflows

HDR’s Jeff Svatora Discusses How Model-Centric Approaches Are Changing Bridge Projects 

In the latest from HDR’s Experts Talk interview series, Senior Bridge Engineer Jeff Svatora explains how model‑centric workflows are changing how complex bridges are designed and delivered. Instead of treating 3D models, analysis files and plan sheets as separate artifacts, this approach turns one digital model into the living “source of truth” that drives design, documentation, coordination and visualization. 

Svatora has spent much of his career developing and now applying model‑centric workflows on complex bridge projects, including cable‑stayed and long‑span steel structures. He focuses on unifying CAD, parametric design and analysis so that geometry, calculations and deliverables move together. A key aspect of this approach is its interoperability, allowing teams to review and analyze models in multiple programs while keeping geometry in sync. 

“Our workflows automatically generate consistent analysis models from the design geometry,” Svatora said, “including specialized cases like nonlinear time history seismic analyses, eliminating the old practice of rebuilding a second model that must be painstakingly checked to perfectly match the first. Instead, when geometry changes occur, all analysis models automatically stay in sync, which verifies quality.”

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.

For more about this transformative approach, read the whole interview with Svatora on model-centric workflows.