Project Overview
This project called for modeling of three bridges simultaneously. Our BIM based optimization process included modeling and analysis of the design. Our clients expected us to create a model that is beautiful, efficient, feasible to build and easy to maintain.
Challenges
During the early stage of the project, the main challenge for our team was to co-ordinate with the client to receive the complete input and come up with an in-depth plan required to make it a reality. Vital to this is ensuring the bridge has the structural strength to carry two lanes of traffic in each direction, as well as two tram lines, and lanes for pedestrians and cyclists.
Establishing the visual identity of the bridge in the hours of darkness required careful consideration by our lighting design experts. Also, large quantities of intersecting rebars in the presence of major structural efforts had to be used.
In order to meet the requirements of structural stability, the design of this project was complex with the involvement of a great amount of structural components, especially at certain joints. This led to collision problems between steel structural components.
Solution
Our engineers modeled and analyzed a variety of different structural options to see which would be the most appealingly pleasing and feasible to build within the existing landscape. The structural typology is new among the current bridges, and as such rendered a unique and elegant urban landmark.
The functional lighting on the bridge has been designed to integrate seamlessly with the architecture. The bridge materials were selected in order to maximize durability and minimize maintenance of the bridge. TreisTek created 3D models illustrating the positioning of the rebars in the footing as well as certain areas of the piers and crossbeams to ensure that the concrete could be poured using conventional pumps without the risk of segregation.
The design related problems like constructability of the design and reducing the rework related to the design were detected and solved by collecting shop drawings, building relevant 3D models, checking design problems and repeating the optimization process. We also conducted collision analysis using BIM technologies. As soon as the collision problems were detected, a modification-remodeling-redetection cycle ran until all the problems were solved.
Conclusion
The project demanded a close coordination and cooperation between the client, designer, main contractor and steel fabricator to deliver a complex structure within the tight timescale. It is a tribute to the team members that the project was successfully delivered, installed and opened on time and within the budget.
With lakhs of vehicles and several hundred pedestrians, the bridges are overcrowded. The construction of these three bridges eased the gridlock and improved life for people across the city.
