Project
This CNY 5.8 billion project required Hubei Provincial Transporting and Planning Design Institute (HPDI) to design the Wuxue Yangtze River Highway Bridge located at the junction of China’s Hubei and Jiangxi provinces. The full bridge is 1,958 meters in length and consists of a 1,348-meter, cable-stayed section with a main span of 768 meters. To address these structural challenges combined with the complex topography, geological conditions, and construction environment, HPDI needed a flexible, integrated information modeling approach and highly accurate software.
Solution
HPDI used BridgeMaster during preliminary design to model different schemes by modifying local parameters. HPDI also used RM Bridge to complete the structural optimization of the various plans and determine a final layout that accommodated the site’s topography and specifically, the terrain of the south bank. Using Bentley bridge software, HPDI designed the main large-span section of the Wuxue Yangtze River Bridge as an asymmetric, cable-stayed bridge system with three 70-meter spans on the southern side.
Outcome
Using Bentley bridge software, the 11-member engineering team completed the preliminary design and main plotting of the bridge in just two months, when it typically takes double the team and more time to design and construct similar bridge projects on the Yangtze River. Bentley’s integrated, parametric modeling software accelerated planning and design, and produced rapid calculations facilitating quality and efficiency, saving HPDI significant time and costs.
Software
During preliminary design, the team imported topographic maps and line data into BridgeMaster to arrange the bridge span and select the suitable type of girder in accordance with the practical terrain to establish the model of the bridge. BridgeMaster automated the generation of corresponding drawings saving rework and resources. RM Bridge allowed the team to continuously adjust the span length and cable spacing to optimize structural integrity of the model and perfect the design. The flexibility and interoperability of Bentley bridge software shortened design time while saving labor costs.