Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Crusell Bridge inaugurated in Helsinki

The Crusell Bridge, was inaugurated today in Helsink and is now one of the more prominent bridges in Finland was designed by WSP Finland. It was built using Building Information Modelling (BIM).

The bridge was commissioned by Helsinki and constructed by Skanska and features two travel lines and in the future a tram line.

City of Helsinki organized an international design competition for the bridge project in 2001. WSP Finland’s winning proposal was “Sea Swords”, a dual-spanned, asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge with beams measuring 302 ft and 167 ft with a horizontal clearance of 82 ft. WSP Finland’s Business Area Director Pekka Pulkkinen was in charge of the technical design of the bridge.
”The building information modelling enabled the contractor to see the construction phases in advance and define for example reinforcements much better than by using an ordinary level drawing. Also, they could order all materials just-on-time,” says WSP Finland’s Oulu Bridge Unit’s manager Antti Karjalainen.

“The model allows simulating all later changes to the structures. Maintenance projects during the life-cycle of the bridge will also benefit from the model”, Karjalainen concludes.
Crusell Bridge won an award for accuracy in reinforced concrete structures. The bridge was also been listed as one of the most notable building solutions in the 2nd edition of BIM Handbook (R.Sacks & Co).

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