BIM in Bridge Building and Civil Engineering

One of the greatest challenges in bridge construction is managing complex geometries and elements. Ensuring that each element is manufactured and assembled according to design specifications and safety standards is key.

bocad offers precision, quality, and efficiency.

bocad software enables error-free designs and guarantees the dimensional accuracy and quality of construction elements and their assembly. The software combines efficiency, durability, and adherence to deadlines, which is essential when building complex infrastructure. Since SCHULLER & Company took over bocad, modeling capacity and ease of use have continually improved to meet the growing needs of design offices, manufacturers, and steel construction companies.

Case Study: The Seibert Bridge in Paris

The steel construction company Baudin Châteauneuf, located in the Loire region, uses bocad for all its needs. For the Seibert Bridge, a bowstring bridge with a box-girder deck and brackets, fabrication drawings were created entirely automatically from the 3D model. Thanks to bocad, no post-processing in other software was necessary.

Why bocad?

- Unfolding of curved sheet metal

- Full-featured software for direct production start-up with no need for third-party software

- Access to FFEIN (bocad programming language) and BoEdit (interactive user macro / connection tool), which allows us to develop methods to automate modeling via text or Excel input.

- For a double girder, 100% of the 3D model and drawings are produced automatically.

Vincent Dausset, a project manager at Baudin Châteauneuf, explains: “We use BIM methods internally to share information between the design office, the workshop, and the construction site. The IFC model serves as a database for our production management software, allowing us to obtain an evolving, visual production parts list. Once the 3D bocad model is finished, the IFC model takes over and incorporates metadata that enables us to track production. We hyperlink all the necessary drawings for carrying out the project to this IFC model. The same model also helps us perform dimensional checks using augmented and virtual reality.'

This integrated approach guarantees a high level of precision and efficiency while considerably reducing the risk of errors and facilitating coordination between everyone involved in the project.