AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Software

designrider · Oct 24, 2011

I am revisiting a discussion developed in 2001 requesting comments regarding the best option(s) for Bridge design software. A decade has passed since this was last discussed, so maybe someone has a bit more recent feedback.

Original Post:

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=8303#post

All the mainstream softwares (STAAD, Risa 3D, RAM or SAP2000) appear to cater to design according to building design criteria (ASCE7, ACI, AISC, etc.)...not AASHTO. It is a narrow road shopping for Bridge software, but I have located the following:

Bentley RM Bridge & LEAP Bridge

http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Products/Bridge+Design+and+Engineering/

STAAD.pro in combination with STAAD.beava
ftp://ftp2.bentley.com/dist/collateral/Web/Building/STAADPro/Bridge_Design_using_STAAD.pdf

Bridgesoft (Limited to Steel Girders)

http://www.bridgesoftinc.com/index.html

Last, but certainly not least, AASHTO has their own software called Opis

http://www.aashtoware.org/Pages/Opis.aspx

The catch is the price. Unless you are consulting for a member agency holding a valid license to the Opis Unlimited Option, the annual license fee is $37,500! Given, I think I can get the "special consultant" option for $2,700 if we can demonstrate our company's relationship with various DOT's.

Any comments or alternatives? Any experience with the software options listed above. Thanks in advance!

Qshake · Oct 25, 2011

The usual bridge design software (US more or less) that I've seen over the last decade are:

P/S Concrete - CONSPAN (Bentley) and PSBEAM
Steel: MDX, DESCUS, PCSIMON
Intermediate piers - RC-Pier (Bentley)
Concrete slab/box girder - CT Beam

General Analysis FEA Programs with Bridge Modules:
CSiBridge - From CSi same as SAP2000 and ETABs producers.
LARSA
MIDAS

Specialty Software:
SEISAB - Seismic Analysis of Bridges (formerly Imbsen and Associates)
ADAPT - P/T bridges

Rating Software:
LARS (Bentley)
VIRTIS (AASHTOware) only for DOT's and their chosen consultants.
OPIS same as VIRTIS

I'm sure there are some that I'm missing but these strike me as the most popular right now.

Regards,
Qshake
[pipe]

Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.

jrw501 · Oct 25, 2011

We mostly use LUSAS. But also some SAP, some MDX, and some DOT programs. For what it's worth though, we design mostly steel bridges (some arch, cable stayed, suspension, slab-girder, etc...). I have no idea what the licensing fees associated with any of these are.

However, I can say I believe LUSAS >> SAP >>>> MDX as far as general ability and user-friendliness. In school I used STAAD and RISA, and prefer LUSAS to both of those as well (probably between LUSAS and SAP). I'm just an EIT though, so I may not be as intimately familiar with the full capabilities of the software as others.

DWHA · Oct 25, 2011

DCALC - premitive, but does pretty good for non complex bridges.

huntley101888 · Oct 25, 2011

We use Merlin Dash from the University of Maryland for our steel structures

http://best.umd.edu/software/merlin-dash/

and use Bentley LEAP Conspan for precast boxes and voided slabs.

designrider · Oct 27, 2011

Thanks for all the feedback. There are many options here that I was unfamiliar with, but will look into them all. Each software has a learning curve to become proficient, therefore a primary interest of mine is to choose a software that will be a sustainable time investment. Some of the more basic software are easy to use, but run the threat that they wont be updated in a timely way as codes change, etc. Bentley seams to offer the most options as a mainstream engineering software developer, but I still have a gut feeling that their dominant interest is in Building design criteria. I like the idea of MDX, LARSA and LUSAS being specialized to AASHTO design, keeping all their software developers focused on a single task. Then finally the AASHTOware OPIS/VIRTIS seems like an ideal solution, but I am still floored at the price of the "unlimited" version. What in the world do they offer that is worth so much?

designrider · Dec 1, 2011

For future readers of this forum. This is a great resource to understanding what bridge design software is available.

http://www.bridgeweb.com/

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AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Software

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