Dynamic Infrastructure implements deep AI technology to prevent bridges and tunnels from collapsing

Dynamic Infrastructure has started to implement a deep-learning solution which allows bridge and tunnel owners and operators to obtain a visual diagnosis by the system providing live, cloud-based, 3D views of the bridge or tunnel and automatically getting alerts when changes are detected in maintenance and operation conditions before it evolves into larger-scale failures.  

With an Opex and Capex positive impact, Dynamic Infrastructure is already conducting projects in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Greece and Israel with different transportation infrastructure stakeholders. The company's clients operate a total of 30,000 assets, ranging from departments of transportation to Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and private companies. 

Dynamic Infrastructure creates "medical records" for every bridge, tunnel and elevated highway based on existing images taken through periodical condition inspections along the years, including images from smartphones, drones and laser scanning. The technology compares old and archived images to new ones, detecting maintenance and operation issues, defects and anomalies. The 3D medical records serve as the basis for the alerts on changes in maintenance conditions. The diagnostics can be accessed through a simple browser and can be instantly shared with peers and contractors to speed maintenance workflows and increase return on investment, according to the company.  

Dynamic Infrastructure, which operates from New York, Berlin and Israel, was founded in 2018 by Saar Dickman, CEO, and Amichay Cohen. Dickman and Cohen collaborated with a group of industry experts in the United States and Europe who share the same vision – creating visual medical records for mega infrastructure elements and focusing on the challenging conditions of bridges and tunnels.  

"The world faces an infrastructure crisis,” Dickman said. "...Trying to repair America's deficient infrastructure without adopting new technologies will not work. Technology allows you to change the equation of one-dollar problem equals one dollar of solution. A single dollar of the right technology in the right place can save much more than one dollar of maintenance of a bridge...We provide actionable monitoring and alerts that can better manage expenditures and help prevent the next collapse. We are bringing the data revolution to the decision-making process of bridges and tunnel maintenance based on our cutting-edge imagery analysis.”   

The company says there are more than 616,000 bridges in America and more than 47,000 are structurally deficient and need urgent repairs, according to a report issued earlier this year by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). Americans cross these deficient bridges 178 million times a day, according to the company. 

According to Dynamic Infrastructure, the average age of a structurally deficient bridge is 62 years and more than 235,000 (38 percent) of U.S. bridges have identified repair needs. ARTBA estimates the cost to make the identified repairs for all 235,000 bridges is nearly $171 billion. The pace of repair in 2018 slowed in comparison to 2017, and therefore ARTBA warns that at this pace, it will take 80 years to make significant repairs in America's bridges.  

Tunnels are no different. According to the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration, more than 350 highway tunnels have been identified in the United States. The company says about 40 percent of these tunnels are now more than 50 years old; and approximately five percent of these tunnels already exceed 100 years of service. Therefore, according to Dynamic Infrastructure, a system of the type offered by the company is vital for maintaining and operating tunnels in America.