Using supercomputers to determine bridge loads

Evaluating the stability and structural response of the bridge after flooding is critical to highway safety. Thus, researchers at the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the new Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) in West Chicago, Illinois, a partnership of the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Argonne National Laboratory, use supercomputers with multidimensional hydraulics programs to study hydrodynamic forces on flooded bridge decks. Using supercomputers and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, it can overcome the inherent problems modeling sediment in the laboratory. The computer simulations will provide engineers with new insights into better design and mitigate for scour at structures.