• Bridge Picture of the week, April 30, 2010

    The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval bridge built in 1345 over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy and is this weeks selection.

  • Bridge Picture of the week, April 23, 2010

    This weeks picture is of the Magdeburg Water Bridge, a navigable aqueduct in Germany.

  • Bridge Picture of the Week - April 16, 2010

    This is a start of a new series. I will be posting a new bridge picture every week. Hopefully you will find these to be inspirational and make you pause and think  "How did they do that?".

    NanPu Bridge in Shanghai

     

    Follow this link below to view a large resolution picture:

    http://www.haibei.net/myhome/images/misc/sh-006.jpg

    (All credits to original photographers)

  • New Release: LEAP Bridge v9.0.2, Maintenance Release, March 2010.

    LEAP Bridge v8i (SELECTseries 1) v9.0.2 is a maintenance release which incorporates some fixes to its component programs. Please review the corrections listed under each component program for further details:

     

    Superstructure Module: CONSPAN v 9.0.2

    This maintenance release of CONSPAN includes fixes for the following issues:

    1. For deck bulb-tees, (deck thickness zero and placed adjacent to…

  • Meet the BrIM team

    Stop by the Bentley Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) booth at the following upcoming conferences. We would love to talk to you and learn how our products can help you in your projects. The Bentley BrIM portfolio addresses the complete life-cycle of layout, design, build and maintenance of bridge infrastructure with products such as LEAP Bridge (CONSPAN, CONBOX, RC-PIER, GEOMATH), RM Bridge, GEOPAK Bridge, InRoads B…

  • Bridge Aerodynamics

    Tacoma Narrows: For many of us, the name conjures up the suspension bridge swaying in the wind and ultimately collapsing. Click here to watch an incredible video on YouTube. This bridge collapse in the 1940's highlighted the importance of bridge aerodynamics and their consideration in the design. With numerous suspension bridges built, many to record setting spans, how have engineers dealt with this problem, and how…

  • LEAP Updates

    In all LEAP Software products, click on the LEAP Updates button on the status bar at the bottom of the application window to be view information about new releases, critical defects and issues. When the light icon on this button appears to be flashing, it signals some new content has been updated. Simply click on this and you will automatically be taken to a webpage showing you relevant information about all LEAP Products…

  • Revitalizing a Florida Favorite

    Use of Bentley's MicroStation, GEOPAK, and LEAP CONSPAN lead to efficient collaboration, design, and analysis of project elements of this historic structure

    Read the full article from Rebuilding Americas Infrastructure

  • LEAP Bridge V8i (SELECTseries 1) v9.0.0

    Release 9.0.0 of the LEAP Bridge Suite is scheduled to be released June 25, 2009. Several outstanding features are included in this release. Here is a brief list of some of the new features for this version :

    LEAP Bridge v 9.0.0 incorporates the following enhancements:

    • The ABC Wizard now allows you to model abutments including stemwall or pilecap type abutments. 3D models and 2D dimensioned drawings…

  • Spliced girders: A stitch in time saves ...?

    Spliced girders are a viable alternative for longer spans because of their low initial costs, improved safety considerations, and reduced maintenance costs. Girders are fabricated and transported in sections to the job site where there are joined together, resulting in a continuous span structure with an extended useful life.

    LEAP CONSPLICE focuses on the challenges associated with modeling the behavior of spliced…

  • Stimulus: How much is your State getting?

    Stimulus Pay Out -- How Much Is Your State Getting?

    February 17, 2009 3:19 PM

    Source: abcnews.com and the Associated Press

    State Infrastructure:

    Ala. $603,871,807

    Alaska 240,495,117

    Ariz. 648,928,995

    Ark. 405,531,459

    Calif. 3,917,656,769

    Colo. 538,669,174

    Conn. 487,480,166

    Del. 158,666,838

    D.C. 267,617,455

    Fla. 1,794,913,566

    Ga. 1,141,255…

  • Engineering is the new Green?

    Business Week writes "As the financial crisis deepens, science and math grads who once flocked to investment banking are now considering jobs in engineering"

    http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2008/tc20081113_488542.htm

    Money Magazine in a 2007 survey listed Civil Engineering as one of the most lucrative degrees for 2007 grads.

    http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/08/pf/college/lucrative_degrees_winter07…

  • Whither Steel?

    For all classes of road or highway systems, reinforced and prestressed concrete bridges have a significantly lower rate of structural deficiency than steel bridges, according to a new PCA analysis.

    "Material Usage and Condition of Existing Bridges in the U.S." reports that 72,749 of the U.S. bridges studied were structurally deficient. More than half of the deficient bridges were constructed with structural steel…

  • Did you know that Kansas has more bridges than California?

    Total Number of Bridges by State:

    1. Texas: 48492

    2. Ohio: 27901

    3. Illinois: 25661

    4. Kansas: 25620

    5. Iowa: 24992

    6. Missouri: 23787

    7. California: 23764

     

    Now wouldn't you say thats a tad surprising. Wonder if Kansas counts their culverts as Bridges(?), or if these statistics are really true? See the source here.

    Updated: Jan.09.2009:

    Here is the official…

  • 5,000 “Ready-To-Go” Transportation Projects Could Put Millions to Work

    "President-elect Barrack Obama is pledging to put millions of Americans to work by building and
    repairing the nation's highways and bridges and a new survey of state "ready-to-go" transportation
    projects is the road map he needs to make it happen," said John Horsley, Executive Director of the
    American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).


    The District of Columbia…

  • Roads and Bridges East, Hollywood, FL

    What an amazing conference! Three days of intense Bentley (BrIM) colleague and user presentations and hands-on workshops. Getting to know clients, their projects, understanding their needs and pain points, first hand honest and invaluable feedback on the software...it got me recharged!  Meeting different folks from the Bentley organization in person was the other highlight, the integration experts, the platform group, civil…

  • Bridge Tracker: Check the safety of the bridges you cross

    A very nice tool from MSNBC, first created following the Minneapolis I-35W bridge collapse back in August 2007.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21840954/

    All of the data comes from the 2006 National Bridge Inventory (NBI) database, which is updated frequently, so some of the data may not be very accurate.

    It would be re-assuring to know that many DOT's use a far more sophisticated tool from Bentley, an intelligent…