Skip to main content

Bentley Systems gives software awards for excellence in bridge and road construction

Software specialist Bentley Systems awarded key road and bridge construction projects for excellence in the use of its software. The awards were presented at the firm’s annual event, this year held at the Metropole Hotel in UK capital London.
November 1, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Software specialist 4019 Bentley Systems awarded key road and bridge construction projects for excellence in the use of ITS software. The awards were presented at the firm’s annual event, this year held at the Metropole Hotel in UK capital London. In the Innovation in Bridges category, the award was given to Bloom Companies for ITS work on the Rawson Avenue Interchange Reconstruction in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The project involved highly specialised construction techniques and was carried out for the client, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Bloom Companies designed the US$14.2 million reconstruction of the I-94/Rawson Avenue interchange, a tight diamond configuration requiring the replacement of an existing four-Span bridge with a new two-Span bridge. The bridge was pre-cast in two staging areas on either side of I-94 and then transported to the site using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs).  LEAP Bridge 1609 ENTERPRISE was used for structural design, including LEAP CONSPAN for supplemental pre-stressed concrete girder analysis, LEAP RC-PIER for analysis and design of precast concrete pier elements, LEAP GEOMATH for bridge geometry. Meawhile LEAP CONSYS was used to analyse special loading conditions related to transporting the bridge spans and raising them into position. Using SPMTs minimised the traffic and reduced road closures from six months to three weeks.

Meanwhile the Innovation in Roads category was awarded to 2748 URS Corporation, for ITS work on the Stockholm Bypass. The Stockholm Bypass is a new motorway link to the western reaches of Stockholm, Sweden. The URS/ÅF AB consortium was awarded the Akalla/Häggvik interchange contract by 1096 Trafikverket, which includes the north end of the 3km surface section of the bypass. The design of this section was complex as it includes 27 road alignments over 22km with 11 bridges, complex water and drainage systems, and complicated electrical and ducting networks.

Several challenging 3D and BIM-related procedures were mandated on this $478 million project. URS used MicroStation, MXROAD, InRoads, PowerCivil for Sweden, and ProjectWise to create and manage intelligent multi-discipline 3D models. Each discipline published a fully referenced i-model that enabled clash detection across the entire project. Using 3D modeling, they hope to reduce drafting hours by 30% and the number of drawings needed by 90%.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Software tools aid construction, reduce costs
    February 28, 2012
    Integrated construction software offers an effective planning solution - *Mark Nichols writes. In a world where resources are limited, 20 year designing and building in a sustainable way is more critical than ever. By employing today's software tools it is possible to reduce the total cost of construction of a new highway, while reducing operating costs and environmental impacts. The path to achieving the greatest gains is to take a holistic approach to the plan, design, construct and operate process from t
  • Curved girders for the Gaasperdammerweg A9 section in Amsterdam
    May 22, 2018
    Dutch authorities recently needed to add traffic lanes to two flyovers at the Holendrecht junction on the Gaasperdammerweg section of the A9 motorway in Amsterdam It was in November 2014 that the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands Rijkswaterstaat awarded the A9 Gaasperdammerweg public-private-partnership project to IXAS Zuid-Oost, a consortium consisting of Ballast Nedam, Fluor, Heijmans and 3i Infrastructure. The A9 Gaasperdammerweg project is the third section
  • Pilosio and CMC Ravenna collaborate on Cornubia Interchange
    June 4, 2019
    The South African branch of the Italian construction company CMC di Ravenna again teamed up with formwork specialist Pilosio to take advantage of Pilosio's solutions. This time it was for construction of a new bridge in the city of Durban, a project named N2/Cornubia Interchange. The overpass will streamline traffic by linking the Umhlanga industrial zone with the Cornubia new development area Tongat. Cornubia is a multibillion rand integrated settlement near Umhlanga, north of Durban, in KwaZulu Natal,
  • Data handling for efficient machine control
    October 16, 2012
    The rapid increase in information availability is transforming the construction sector. Conventional methods used for sourcing geographic data based on maps and localised sampling meant that there was often a lack of accurate information relating to ground conditions at specific areas where work was planned, often resulting in unwelcome surprises for construction companies along with additional costs for projects.