The impressive Peters Bridge, designed by an student using Tekla Structures
Petr Vicena, a third-year student at the Secondary School of Civil Engineering in Valašské Meziříčí with a specialization in Building Construction, entered the Peters Bridge into the Construsoft BIM Awards 2019 as a student project. Using Tekla Structures software, Petr constructed a 3D bridge model he modeled over an entire school year. The project was part of a civil engineering group's work, focusing on structural mechanics and 3D BIM modeling programs.
Throughout the project, Petr consulted with experts and drew inspiration from historical documents and photographs of classic bridges, such as the Manhattan Bridge, to create his design. He is particularly interested in steel structures and bridges, dedicating a significant amount of his time to the project.
The Peters Bridge is a steel suspension bridge that utilizes four main carrying cables to transfer the weight of the bridge deck by regular suspension cables into two pylons. The bridge deck has two levels, with four main trusses, crossbars, sidebars, and bracing. At the lower level of the bridge deck, there are two pedestrian walkways, seven road lanes, and four subway lines. The bridge has a span of 408 meters, a width of 43 meters, a pylon height of 110 meters, and a top viewing platform height of 105 meters. The main carrying cables have a diameter of 600 mm, and the steel structure weighs 54.4 thousand tons (54,376,587 kg).
Gaining invaluable experience in steel structure design and Tekla software through modeling the Peters Bridge
While the model is not perfect, it provided Petr with a wealth of knowledge and new information on steel structure design, the static functioning of suspension bridges, and the spatial layout of bridge decks with varied sorts of traffic. Petr learned to use Tekla Structures 3D BIM program to detect collisions, generate drawing documentation, and create material lists. He also learned to export data to visualization programs and generate slideshows using images, videos, and panoramic photos. Additionally, Petr can bring his bridge into a virtual/mixed reality environment and Trimble Connect.
Through constructing the Peters Bridge, Petr gained invaluable experience simulating the construction of a large-scale steel bridge, which will undoubtedly be helpful in his future university studies and practical application.
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