001-45_127_NOV-DEC_LAYOUT_PT - Flipbook - Page 19
“With the new name, we honour our past, present and future, and
the importance of this area to both Kwantlen and Musqueam. We also
reflect on our long-standing connections to sacred lands and resources
on both sides of the bridge crossing and stal' w' (Fraser River).”
PREFAB PANELS: HARNESSING COMPLEX PARAMETRIC DESIGN
THE NEW stal' w'as m Bridge required more than 3,000 multi-ton, prefabricated
panels to construct a 1.2-kilometer arterial road above the Fraser River.
Managing the complexity of thousands of prefabricated concrete panels, crucial
to the success of this project was Entuitive’s construction engineering specialists,
which implemented the strategic use of contemporary technology to solve
challenges that emerged during this massive, modular panelized project.
The thousands of concrete panels required to build the stal' w'as m Bridge were
produced in a pre-cast yard designed by Entuitive’s team. Typically, these types
of precast yards have a stressing bed where pre-stressing cables are pulled, with
the concrete casted and cured prior to the release of the cables. However, this
initial design decision changed when the choice was made to avoid the use of prestressed panels.
Instead, the precast yard changed to have formwork that’s adjustable to
different panel sizes. For this method, the process involves first setting the
formwork to the right dimensions. When the formwork is set, the reinforcement
is placed, and then the concrete is cast, leading to a prefabricated panel in the
precast yard.
Each panel was created with four lifting points. A spreader beam was designed
by Entuitive to eliminate horizontal forces from the lifting points and allow the
logistics providers to safely stack the panels on a truck. The trucks moved the
panels from the precast yard to the construction site, where they were installed in
the prescribed place.
“For the stal' w'as m Bridge, our team initially believed we would be working
with 15-20 different panel design types,” said Senior Associate Gerd Birkle.
“Considering our initial expectations, it was remarkable that we ended up
managing 500 different types of panels.”
“The reason we were able to deliver the project efficiently and manage that
higher amount of different panel types despite the complexity, was because of our
decision to utilize parametric design modelling for the panels.”
Quality control for the panel designs was another key aspect of ensuring
accurate, constructable design drawings that fabricators needed to produce
for each panel. It was essential to make sure that the rulebook worked for
a significant majority of parameters involved in the panel design, with a few
exceptions that couldn’t efficiently be added to the rulebook.
“Parametric design was crucial to manage the complexity of the panel drawings,”
said Gerd. “Instead of drawing one panel and changing it 100 times, we knew that
drawing the panels using parameters and a rulebook would be far more efficient.”
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