Because the the bridge building can be accomplished while the substructure is being constructed, the erection period is accelerated and the time required to gain strength in the concrete is removed from the critical path. As a result of the maturity of the concrete at the time of erection, the effects of concrete creep and shrinkage are reduced. The match cast joint method of pre-casting concrete segments has proved to be the most versatile and reliable way for a bridge builder to fabricate pre-cast segmental bridges. With proper geometry control, this method is ideal for building structures with complex geometry.

Bridge Building Software Program

The MC3D geometry control program Is used to monitor the casting operations and establish “as-cast” curves step-by-step to verify that the actual superstructure geometry is in close agreement with the geometry described in the design documents.

MC3D Geometry Control Program allows the following:

• Match-Cast setup based on already cast geometry (As-Cast)

• Survey of match-cast and wet-cast markers, in order to compute as-cast coordinates Print-out of As-Cast coordinates –with MS-Excel Exports

The MC3D Bridge Construction program provides input and output through the use of screen forms, running in the Windows operating system (see attached screen shots). Joint coordinates and camber values are input in “Excel-compatible” grids that the user may edit. For detailed MC3D features and benefits, click on the MC3D data sheet below: