Bridge design &
engineering
contractors, and developers deliver creative, vibrant, cost effective footbridges and cycle
bridges.
design as developed by our award-winning bridge designers.
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 bridgesresources
Duration: 1 month
Concept Bridge Design
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.
Duration: 1 month
Preliminary Bridge Design
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.
Duration: 3 month
Detailed Bridge Design (PS1)
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 modellingStatic & dynamic soil interaction using winkler springsFull seismic design to NZTA Bridge Manual 3rd Edition and/or NZS1170.5Liquefaction induced lateral spreading of abutmentsComposite beam design to NZ/AS 5100.6Steelwork coating specificationFinite Element Modelling of connectionsAssessment of chloride effects in concrete structuresWind analysis to NZS1170.3Wind Aerodynamics & CFD modellingPedestrian Vibration to European codesFlood effects to NZTA Bridge Manual 3rd EditionDuration: 1 month
Independent Peer Review (PS2)
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.
6 weeks
6 weeks
2 weeks
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).
Duration: 6-12 Months
Construction Monitoring (PS4)
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
Gold Award
Design excellence
GOLD AWARD
Supreme winner
