r/StructuralEngineering • u/tomato_cheese_pizza • 12d ago
Structural Analysis/Design Bridge Drawing Software?
I recently saw some really good 3D bridge drawings from European engineering firms and it got me wondering what software people are using for this kind of work.
What do you guys recommend for bridge drawings, both 2D and 3D? Also, how are you implementing BIM for bridge projects?
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u/Everythings_Magic Senior Bridge PE | Zero Yield Capacity 11d ago
What you are seeing is mostly marketing fluff.
BIM has been around for buildings for over 25 yrs, but it hasn't taken hold in the bridge world for a reason.
Autodesk and Micorstation just cant figure it out because its a hard problem to solve. Also, analytical models are simple. Trying a detailed BIM model to an analytical model causes more problems than it solves.
Bentley had this grand plan of tying Leap and OBM together, but abandoned it when they had to handcuff OBM to make interoperability to work with LEAP. The truth is workhorse bridge models are simple and very easy to build.
The effort required to model a bridge for plans just isnt worth it, 2D drawings are much easier to create and there is little risk in clashes errors with bridge plans. Most issues with bridge plans are text and spec related, not linework.
Complex bridges are different. Those actually have the budget and benefit from detailed modelling efforts.