DESIGN AND INSPECTION OF LONG SPAN SUSPENSION BRIDGES - BRIDGE INFORMATION MODELLING

In the design process of long-span suspension bridges the consideration of many challenges needs to be fulfilled: a highly non-linear behaviour of the structure, the need of optimization the geometry of suspension cables, when designing the sag-profile as well as optimization of erection procedure. Additionally wind effect is a major point because the extraordinary slenderness of these structures yields a considerable susceptibility for wind-induced vibrations. When design challenges are successfully closed, the bridge needs to be maintained and inspected over its entire life cycle. During the lifetime of a bridge a huge amount of data related to all aspects of the bridge is collected and must be managed. Not every piece of data is necessary for every participator in bridge management, but there will be overlapping occurrences. Therefore it seems natural to collect all the data in one well organised data pool, which can be accessed by all persons or institutes involved in the bridge construction and maintenance. A corresponding data model which is called BrIM – Bridge Information Modelling – is being developed by the bridge engineering division of Bentley Systems. Mobile inspection represents a novel solution, which helps asset owners streamline the process of planning inspections, collecting and managing inspection data, and complying with government reporting requirements. The central part of the project is to create a common data interchange interface for a wide range of design CAD, project management and inspection tools usually applied in bridge design and construction. The application of such a distributed model eases the communication of the human network behind such a bridge. This contribution explains the necessary concepts of data flow and organization from the viewpoint of the construction design and structural analysis. The data flow will show how the preliminary design can be used for structural design and ultimately how obtained calculation results can be incorporated into the following construction process. The same model can be used for inspection of the bridge over its lifetime allowing for a seamless linkage of information and allowing for proven asset management techniques to be used.