Digitally Enabled and Assured Product-based Bridges

Laing O’Rourke has previously developed a suite of tools to demonstrate the feasibility of digitally automated bridge design. Manufacturing, assembly and installation processes have been proven and tested using precast protype modular components. The project will develop this further to produce a system that digitally enables the rapid design, optioneering, configuration, manufacturing and delivery of highway bridges using assemblies of standardised, pre-certified, off-site manufactured parts . The tool and DfMA Bridge component set will contribute towards delivery of the three Highways England imperatives Safety, Customer and Delivery by: reducing time and cost associated with design development and optimisation to hours rather than weeks, enabling a greater content of off-site manufacturing, improved efficiency, reduced waste, improved quality assurance and reduced defects. The construction time on site will be shortened and predictability improved with fewer people on site, for shorter periods of time and improved safety. An output of the system will be a 3d, data rich, digital twin. This will provide a foundation for improvements to asset data management and decision making The project will comprise seven work streams including evaluation of the legal and insurance framework required to enable wider adoption of the tools by the bridge engineering and contracting community.