Imagine constructing a 643—meter-long cantilever concrete bridge, with over 200,000 reinforcing bars and 200 separate pour phases, 55 meters above a Norwegian valley— without traditional 2D drawings. It's an ambitious vision brought to life by the Randselva Bridge.
When the Norwegian public roads administration asked the design-build team to deliver the Randselva Bridge entirely in 3D, the request was met with cautious optimism. Relying solely on a Building Information Modeling (BIM) for a project of this size was unheard of, but the design-build team of Sweco, PNC, Armando Rito Engenharia and Isachsen was up for the challenge.
The design team was led by Tiago Vieira, Managing Director, at Armando Rio Engenharia who then collaborated extensively with the engineering team at Sweco led by structural engineer, Øystein Ulvestad.
Join us for a video tour of this historic project, from concept to completion.
EPISODE 1: DEATH TO DRAWINGS (4:00)
Trimble’s structural BIM software, Tekla Structures, coupled with parametric design principles and data sharing, became the central nervous system of the project. The ability to visualize every component to a high level of detail in 3D provided the clarity needed to deliver a bridge with such intricate geometry and heavy reinforcement.
Designers located across Norway, Finland, Denmark and Poland collaborated seamlessly using Tekla Model Sharing, which eliminated information latency and ensured teams were always working from the latest information.
If you put every piece of information that you need into the BIM model, you'll always have up-to-date information available for everyone involved in the project which has massive, massive benefits.
-Øystein Ulvestad, Structural Engineer, Sweco
The limitations of 2D drawings, such as misinterpretation, coordination challenges, errors and rework, were overcome by the rich data embedded within the Tekla model.
For Øystein, he has dedicated his life to BIM and trying to move from 2D to 3D. As a structural engineer for 23 years, he was very thrilled to discover BIM because he could see the future.
"The mantra that I try to use is 'Death to Drawings' and in Norwegian that would sound like 'Død til Tegninger'. I do feel it sound better in English though. It has a nice ring to it," said Øystein.
EPISODE 2: DRIVING THE FUTURE OF 3D DESIGN (5:00)
Each object in the Randselva BIM model carries approximately 50 information attributes, including the precise labeling of reinforcement according to pour phases, for a level of visibility that would have been impossible to achieve with static drawings.
Automated clash detection helped teams identify potential conflicts early in the design process, ensuring constructability and minimizing costly rework during construction.
Throughout the project, Trimble Connect, a cloud-based Common Data Environment (CDE), provided a centralized source where all project stakeholders could access the latest version of the 3D model from anywhere, at any time.
Quick and easy access to model data enabled seamless communication across project participants, from the office to the field.
EPISODE 3: PRECISE AND PAPERLESS (7:00)
For Eirik Kittelsen, Civil Engineer at the Norwegian Road Authority, he was tasked as the control engineer to ensure the contractors were building the bridge as it was designed in the models.
Eirik says, "we just didn't have to think about things going wrong onsite, we had already picked it up in the design phase of the project."
During construction, field teams used Trimble SiteVision to overlay the 3D model on the physical site, making it easy to spot discrepancies between the design and existing conditions, identify conflicts early and collaborate to prevent rework.
SiteVision was instrumental in planning and installing pipelines and reinforcement and controlling the positioning of scaffolding and piles with precision. Compared to interpreting 2D plans, this real-time visual guidance reduced the potential for errors.
Accuracy was not only crucial for the design-build of the bridge, but also for construction. In a bridge this type, the construction team used a cantiliver method that required heavy scaffolding sytems to be set in place. To do this, existing holes were placed into the existing concrete and required millimeter positioning.
"We had about a thousand of these holes on Randselva Bridge. With Trimble's Tekla and Connect, none of those holes were incorectly placed and that's nearly unheard of in our industry," says Øystein.
EPISODE 4: MODEL-BASED LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT (3:00)
With the bridge completed, the project now moved into the operation & maintenance phase.
Our team followed along with Norwegian Road Authority on one of their routine maintenance checks that took us inside of the bridge. As Eirik reminded us, bridges like this "are built to withstand 100 years so these models have to be possible to interact with in 50 years."
Asset data created and captured in the 3D model will continue to deliver value beyond construction, optimizing operations and helping maintain the Randselva Bridge throughout its lifecycle. The 3D model is an accurate and up-to-date digital representation of the bridge’s structural elements and components.
When used by owners to inform decision making, improve asset performance and optimize maintenance schedules, this data can reduce the total cost of ownership and extend the bridge’s lifespan.
EPISODE 5: REFLECTION ON TECH-DRIVEN SUCCESS (2:30)
For many reasons, the Randselva Bridge project is a powerful example of using 3D data for better outcomes across the asset lifecycle.
"If we were able to do a similar bridge, we could re-use maybe 70% of the scripts, saving a lot of hours on our next project," said Øystein.
The Randselva Bridge was successfully completed in 2022, and is a shining example of the transformative value that a model-based workflow can bring to the lifecycle of a bridge, from design and construction to long-term operations and maintenance.
As we finally wrapped under the bridge, Øystein left us with these final words.
"This is absolutely the highlight of my career. I think it's a beautiful structure. It's easy on the eyes," Øystein stated.
