Digitising Bridge Design Processes
The project uses standards to simplify bridge processes and reduce the time it takes to complete a bridge. The current design process is complex and typically a fully detailed design would take around 30 weeks to complete
By digitising the design process with this project, Laing ORourke has identified savings that could see bridge designs produced in days or weeks instead of months or years.
The design configuration tools, created using SOLIDWORKS and DriveWorks, provide a smoother digital process for the design, manufacture and assembly of components, which reduces the time it takes to complete a bridge.
At DriveWorks World 2018, Laing ORourkes Digital Engineering Leader, Dr Scott McGovern, told us more about how the project uses DriveWorks.
We wanted to implement a system that gave users the ability to make informed decisions so they could quickly see the impact of their decisions on the overall design.
Were using DriveWorks in three main areas within our toolset. Firstly, we used the software to build the user interface and capture user defined inputs. We then linked these inputs into our structured dataset that would drive the rules to define component dimensions and features.
Finally, we utilised DriveWorks design automation capabilities to automate the development of model assemblies and engineering drawings of the bridge.