An assistant professor at the University of Houston’s Cullen College of Engineering has secured a $505,286 grant from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for a three-year research initiative. The grant will support advanced research on digitizing bridges using robots, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) to address intricate safety issues related to highway bridges.
Vedhus Hoskere, assistant professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, emphasized Texas’s unique challenge of overseeing 55,000 bridges, more than double the number in any other state. Hoskere aims to revolutionize traditional inspection procedures by leveraging technology such as drones, cameras, sensors, and AI to collect extensive bridge data for informed decision-making.
His project, titled “Development of Digital Twins for Texas Bridges,” began in September 2023 and is scheduled to continue until August 2026. Notably, this marks Hoskere’s first collaboration with TxDOT. Simultaneously, he chairs a sub-task group of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), focusing on AI methodologies for remote inspection of bridges.
Despite Texas’s relatively favorable bridge conditions, with less than two percent classified as in poor condition according to the Federal Highway Administration, the state faces mobility challenges due to rapid population growth.
Hoskere’s overarching objective is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of Texas’ bridge maintenance programs by implementing digital twins and advanced technologies.
Explaining the process, Hoskere highlighted the creation of 3D digital representations, termed digital twins, for bridges. AI methods are then employed to identify and quantify potential structural problems, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of bridge conditions.
With a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, an M.S. in Computer Science, and an M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, along with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore, India, Hoskere brings a diverse educational background to his research endeavors.
