Digital workflows unify cross-border bridge build
Surveyor team Westmate relied on connected Trimble hardware and software to map out complex job sites and deliver precise data for the international Narrow Water Bridge project.
Key achievements
- Mapped complete job site in a single day using 3D technology
- Established a single source of truth across international partners
- Prevented costly downtime and assembly delays
- Caught component deviations during production instead of assembly
Solutions leveraged
- Trimble® Tekla Structures
- Trimble Access™ field software
- Trimble Connect® collaboration platform
- Trimble SX12 scanning total station
- Trimble field controller
Summary
Field crews open the model directly on their Trimble field controller, where every component is displayed exactly as designed. No 2D cuts, no flat drawings, no interpretation. The bridge section lying in the factory is the exact same bridge section appearing on the screen.
Gregory VanderstraetenWestmate
Background
Connecting international steel construction
The new Narrow Water Bridge is a key physical connection between Ireland and Northern Ireland while highlighting how digital surveying data shapes international steel construction projects.
At the narrowest point of Carlingford Lough, a complex 195-meter structure is coming to life, consisting of a fixed southern cable-stayed bridge and a northern cable-stayed bridge with a rolling bascule mechanism. Design, production, transport and assembly must seamlessly align. There is no room for interpretation or doubt. Every millimeter counts, and any deviation can propagate through the entire execution chain.
In a complex international supply chain, technical demands are increasing, components are larger, tolerances are tighter and deadlines are shorter. A deviation of just a few millimeters in steel fabrication in Belgium could cause days of downtime on the other side of the water. To ensure seamless alignment across design, production, transport and assembly, Belgian surveyor team Westmate was brought in to establish absolute precision across the project.
Solution
Implementing a connected Trimble workflow
Westmate and Belgian steel fabricator Aelterman chose a connected workflow linking Trimble Tekla Structures, Trimble Connect and Trimble SX12 scanning total station data to create a single source of truth for all project partners regardless of location or discipline.
The process began on-site in Ireland and Northern Ireland, where Westmate mapped out the complete job site situation in a single day using advanced 3D measuring technology under tight time pressure.
"The field survey is directly integrated into the design model in Tekla Structures," explains Laurens De Temmerman of Westmate. "Because of this, designers no longer work with assumptions, but with constructible data — accurate, usable information from reality. This makes it possible to test complex connections, tolerances and moving parts, such as the bascule mechanism, against real-world conditions as early as the design phase."
Once finalized, the design is published as an up-to-date 3D model in Trimble Connect, tracking revisions automatically and eliminating static drawings and email delays.
Crucial to field capture is the SX12, which combines point measurement with 3D laser scanning. Scans are linked to the design model in Trimble Connect to visually highlight deviations during production rather than assembly. Throughout implementation, Trimble distributor AllTerra provided support, training, and integration guidance alongside Trimble and Construsoft.
"On the construction site, production and construction teams no longer have to doubt the accuracy of their data," said Gregory Vanderstraeten of Westmate. "Field crews open the model directly on their Trimble field controller, where every component is displayed exactly as designed. No 2D cuts, no flat drawings, no interpretation. The bridge section lying in the factory is the exact same bridge section appearing on the screen."
Results
Predictability and peace of mind across the project chain
By connecting hardware, software and field data, design, production, transport and assembly evolved into an integrated process where information flows freely. For instance, when differences are detected during steel production in Belgium compared to concrete measurements in the UK, concrete contractor BAM can immediately adjust formwork before issues progress to the site.
Design, production, transport and assembly evolve from separate links into a single integrated process in which information flows freely and flawlessly.
By capturing and sharing measurement data correctly, Westmate and its partners achieved complete predictability, avoiding delays, extra costs and downtime across borders. Read this story in Dutch.
