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bridge design & engineering

DC Structures Studio – Services we provide

We are an award-winning specialist bridge design firm. We help councils, designers, contractors, and developers deliver creative, vibrant, cost effective footbridges and cycle bridges. 

See below our complete range of services and read about our eight stages of bridge design as developed by our award-winning bridge designers. 

Toki Footridge Westport

Overview of our services

DC Structures Studio can help with every stage of your bridge project, from teasing out early ideas to collaborating on the final construction. These are some of the services we offer:

  • Concept bridge design & artistic visualisations
  • Detailed bridge design and bridge engineering (PS1)
  • Independent Technical Peer Review (PS2)
  • Bridge construction monitoring (PS4)
  • Bridge cost estimation
  • Bridge engineering partnerships for design and construct (D&C) tendering
  • Building consenting
  • Bridge tendering prep & assessment
  • Bridge design documentation
  • bridge inspections
  • Bridge maintenance strategies
  • Dynamic assessment of bridges

bridge design resources

See below links to free resources that can help get you started on your bridge design journey.

The DCSS "eight stages of bridge design"
as used by our award-winning bridge designers

STAGE 1

STAGE 1:

approx. Duration: 1 month

Concept Bridge Design

Concept Bridge Design is the fun part! This is the stage where we assess the site and work with you to understand your budgets, aspirations, constraints, and overall design requirements.

We design bridges specific to their location and budgetry constraints. All our concept bridge designs can be delivered with high-quality 3D artistic visualizations. This means you see what you are getting, and can inspire others when seeking funding and consulting with stakeholders.

If you have a problem that a bridge might help solve, get in touch. We understand budgets are tight early on in a project, so we can often provide early bridge design advice, concepts, or indicative pricing free of charge or “at cost” to help get the project off the ground.

Longford cable stayed bridge

Toki Poutangata Pedestrian Bridge, Westport 

Constructed Feb 2022.
STAGE 2

STAGE 2:

approx. duration: 1 month

Preliminary Bridge Design

The Preliminary Design Phase is an interim phase whereby the design is taken to a level of circa 30-50% of the full design. This stage is often the point where overall bridge form and geometry are confirmed by the client. This stage yields comprehensive plans, elevations, and cross section showing how the bridge will fit and connect with its environment and solve the site constraints. 

Preliminary Design is often used as a segway to review funding requirements, liaise with and update stakeholders on progress, get final client sign-off, and/or apply for resource consents. Updated cost estimation is also carried out at this stage to make sure your project remains on track to meet budget expectations. 

Worth noting that the benefit of this milestone is that minor to moderate changes at this stage are much easier (and cost-effective) to implement than changes at the end of detailed design. In other words… this is the perfect time to confirm that the solution is still on track to meet client aspirations for cost, programme, aesthetics, constructability, safety, and environmental outcomes.

Water of Leith Cable Stayed Bridge, Dunedin

Constructed Dec 2018.
STAGE 3

STAGE 3:

Approx. duratioN: 3 months

Detailed Bridge Design (PS1)

Detailed design is the phase where we put our brains to the test and run sophisticated bridge design analysis methods to confirm the structural geometry, member sizes, & connections. From here we create design drawings that are used for building consent, construction tendering, and construction.

We use our wealth of New Zealand-specific bridge design experience to produce details that are cost-effective and easy to build.

This list is just an example of common bridge design analysis tasks. Let us know if you have something special in mind that is not mentioned here.

At the end of this stage you will have design drawings and specifications from which the bridge can be constructed. This is the point where we would issue a Designer Producer Statement (PS1) for Building Consent purposes (see more info about PS1 process here).

  • 3D SAP2000 analysis modelling
  • Static & dynamic soil interaction using winkler springs
  • Full seismic design to NZTA Bridge Manual 3rd Edition and/or NZS1170.5
  • Liquefaction induced lateral spreading of abutments
  • Composite beam design to NZ/AS 5100.6
  • Steelwork coating specification
  • Finite Element Modelling of connections
  • Assessment of chloride effects in concrete structures
  • Wind analysis to NZS1170.3
  • Wind Aerodynamics & CFD modelling
  • Pedestrian Vibration to European codes
  • Flood effects to NZTA Bridge Manual 3rd Edition

Piha Footbridge, Auckland

Constructed Jan 2020

STAGE 4

STAGE 4:

Approx. duratioN: 1 months

Independent Peer Review (PS2)

Independent Peer Review is the process whereby an independent team (a seperate company) will complete a fully independent parallel analysis of the bridge and review drawings to confirm adequacy of the design. This process is normally required for consenting purposes of medium to large bridges (>$300K) and/or complex bridges.

The process is very similar to the detailed design phase but typically only requires about 1/4 to 1/3 the time and effort used for detailed bridge design analysis stage. It is not required in all situations so get in touch if you want to know if your project needs this or not.

We have strong working relationships with other well respected bridge designers in NZ and have had many of our designs successfully peer reviewed. We often also successfully peer review the work of others. Key to the process is the theme of “collaboration”. Intention is to work pro-actively together in the spirit of mutual respect and trust to get the best outcomes (intention should not be to score points with the client and show how one team is cleverer than the other!).

On completion of the Peer review process, a Reviewer Producer Statement (PS2) is issued for submittal with building consent. 

The “Blue Footbridge”, Cambridge

Constructed June 2019..
STAGES 5-7

Approx. duratioNs

stage 5:
6 weeks

stage 6:
6 weeks

stage 7:
2 weeks

Once the Detailed Design and independent Technical Peer Review are closed out, the following stages are all completed (sometimes in parallel) using the design documentation (drawings, specifications, PS1, and PS2):

5 – Building Consenting

6 – Bridge Construction Tendering

7 – Tender Assessment & Award

 

We can support our clients during these phases (some clients, such as Councils, often do these activities in-house).

How to build a bridge - fabricate steel beams

Wairoa Clip-on Cycleway Truss, Tauranga

Constructed June 2020
STAGE 8

STAGE 8:

Approx. duratioN: 6-12 months

Construction Monitoring (PS4)

During construction we give engineering support to contractors and clients to make sure the built structure matches the design. This is a key part of the Building Consent process. At the end of construction our Bridge Engineers will produce a site monitoring certificate (PS4) and prepare “As Built” drawings so you can get a “code of compliance certificate” (CCC) and open the bridge.

Having Bridge Engineers on site means we can collaborate with you and your contractors. This hands-on approach reduces the chance of any costly issues arising and pro-actively speeds up any rectifications that might be required.

Our recent bridge awards

ACE gold
GOLD
AWARD

CONSULTING AWARDS 2024

Manganui Gorge Suspension Bridge

We received the top award from the Association of Consulting & Engineering (ACE) for our professional services in delivering the Manganui Gorge Suspension Bridge. Read more here.

NZ Bridges Awards 2022 Logo
DESIGN
EXCELLENCE

NZ BRIDGES AWARDS 2022

Water of Leith
Cable-stayed Footbridge

NZ Bridge Awards are endorsed by Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and we received the “Design Excellence Award” in recognition of setting a new benchmark for sustainable design of bridges. Read more here. 

ACE gold
GOLD
AWARD

CONSULTING AWARDS 2022

Toki Poutangata
Footbridge

Awarded by the Association of Consulting & Engineering (ACE) our professional services in delivering the Toki Bridge were recognised in the prestigious category of GOLD (the top honour). Read more here.

SCNZ Logo Image
SUPREME
WINNER

EXCELLENCE IN STEEL 2022

Wairoa River
Cycleway Bridge

The Steel Construction NZ (SCNZ) awards recognize excellence in steel design and construction. Wairoa Bridge took out the award category for +$1.5M and also took out the overall “Supreme Award” for steel excellence. 

Resene Total Colour Awards
COLOUR
MAESTRO

TOTAL COLOUR AWARDS 2021

Wairoa River
Cycleway Bridge

The Resene Total Colour Awards are a celebration of colour. Judges commented that “this bridge pushes the boundaries – going bold with colour where so many have gone bland before it“. Read more here. 

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