Purpose and Background

The analysis of bridge hydraulics is a common task faced by engineers working on transportation, land development, and flood control projects. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hydrologic Engineering Center’s HEC-RAS software program is a widely used tool for various open channel hydraulics analysis and design tasks. One facet of this software package is the analysis of energy losses due to bridge structures in open channels with various methodologies.

Although an analysis of the hydraulic effects of a bridge in a channel can be completed with HEC-RAS relatively easily, often times a more in-depth approach is required. The various computation methods and variables involved can produce more than one “correct” answer. Additionally, other factors in the simulation in addition to the bridge structures can affect bridge hydraulic analysis results.

This webinar will focus on a more in-depth look at bridge hydraulics analysis with HEC-RAS. The course will assume that participants are very familiar with using the HEC-RAS program and the bridge hydraulic analysis features. The webinar will provide a discussion on more complicated hydraulic analysis issues and provide examples and suggestions on how to tackle difficult bridge analysis problems. Emphasis will be placed on output review to help participants gain a better understanding of reasonableness of HEC-RAS results.

Learning Outcomes

This webinar will provide engineers with a more in-depth look at bridge hydraulics within the HEC-RAS software package. The webinar will give insight into the calculation methodology employed by the program and allow for a better understanding of model output.

Webinar Benefits

• Learn how to apply analysis methods to complex bridge scenarios
• Discuss more complex bridge hydraulics problems
• Gain more understanding on model results
• Analyze output for reasonableness

Intended Audience

Civil engineers seeking a more advanced course on bridge hydraulics calculations within the HEC-RAS software program will benefit from this webinar. Participants should be very familiar with bridge hydraulic analysis using the HEC-RAS software program before taking this course.

Webinar Outline

• Bridge modeling scenario descriptions
• Discussion of modeling approach
• Examples in the model
• Analysis of model output