Automated Meshing and 3D Visualizations for 2D Bridges and Culverts in SMS/SRH-2D

As 2D hydraulic modeling use and application becomes more widespread amongst State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and others, FHWA strives to continue to improve the accuracy and efficiency of transportation hydraulic analyses and bridge scour evaluations. One area of significant advancement is the representation of bridges and culverts more accurately in SMS/SRH-2D. Although 2D bridge pressure flow analysis features have been in SRH-2D for several years, the assumption of a horizontal bridge deck and need to construct a high quality mesh with skewed pier or bridge configurations often presented challenges.

Several new tools in the SMS interface have overcome these limitations and added new capabilities in the process. The tools can be used to automatically generate meshes for bridges and piers with various configurations, as well as a 3D representation of the structure that defines a variable pressure ceiling. Two-dimensional culvert meshing and analysis has also been added as a new feature in SMS/SRH-2D. This presentation provides an overview of these new features with a few sample cases studies.