Integrated Bridge Project Delivery and Life Cycle Management

Kick-Off Meeting Summary

Federal Highway Administration Project # DTFH61-06-R-00021

Wednesday, December 20, 2006, 9:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.

Chairman and COTR Krishna Verma called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.

Attendance

Fred Beckmann, Consultant - Steel Industry
Stuart Chen, Associate Professor, SUNY-Buffalo, Subcontractor to Arora and Associates, P.C.
George Christian, Deputy Chief Engineer, NYSDOT
Roy Eriksson, President, Eriksson Technologies
Chris Fischer, Business Systems Development Manager, Schuff Steel Company
Asif Habibullah, SAP 2000 Bridge Software Engineer, CSI
Ken Hurst, Engineering Manager- State Bridge Office, KSDOT
*Scott Krause, Engineering Tech. Supervisor, High Steel Structures, Inc.
Dave McQuaid, Consultant
*Ron Medlock, Director - Technical Services, High Steel Structures, Inc.
Charles Nurse, Contracting Officer (In attendance part time), FHWA
Jay Puckett, Professor, University of Wyoming, Subcontractor to Arora and Associates, P.C.
Timothy J. Riordan, Deputy Project Manager, Arora and Associates, P.C.,
Salim Kyle Roberts, Contract Specialist (In attendance part time), FHWA
Gerald Sellner, Structural Engineer, Arora and Associates, P.C.
Arun M. Shirolé, Senior Vice President and Principal, Arora and Associates, P.C.
Krishna Verma, Principal Bridge Engineer, Office of Bridge Technology, FHWA

*Friends of the panel

[Note: The following panel members were unable to attend: Luke Faulkner (AISC), Tom Siewert (NIST) and Bill Wright (FHWA)]

In his opening remarks, Mr. Krishna Verma, the FHWA COTR, described the objective of the contract is essentially to develop an integrated system for design, construction, and life cycle management for steel and concrete bridges, including superstructure and substructure, and demonstrate its operation. Further, he stated that this contract encompasses Phase I of a two-phase project. Phase II, under a separate independent contract, will take the project to the stage where a real bridge is built and cost analyses are performed.

Mr. Verma also discussed the tasks included in the contract for Phase I. Task 1 of the contract is to compile the Work Plan and present it at the kick-off meeting. That is the purpose of the kick-off meeting, during which the contractor, Arora and Associates, P.C., will present the work plan. Tasks 2 through 6 relate to the details of developing the project and presentations/demonstrations.

Arora and Associates presented the Work Plan, including technical details, scheduling issues and, in particular, discussion regarding data/software linkage.

Subsequent discussion included the following:

• Prototype software, as in the linking software to be developed under this contract, will demonstrate that its application for integrated bridge project delivery is doable. However, future steps will be needed that will require more elaborate testing and development for general use.
• Two key principles are involved in the project approach. First, it is 3-D modeling rather than conventional drafting. Second any piece of data should be defined only in one entry place to prevent time-consuming, error-prone transcription re-entry of data, and to allow the entered data to carry on to downstream processes.
• What is in the contract drawings today at a minimum should be in the design model.
• The use of "interference checks" in 3-D modeling was explained as the ability to run a check for entities that are occupying the same space in the model. Clearances around entities can also be specified for these checks. Information can be handed off to PONTIS or other comparable systems for life cycle management.
• The approach will be to find, and develop, linking software for the best possible commercially available software combination that will flow smoothly to demonstrate that "integrated project delivery and life cycle management" is feasible.
• Most of the new efforts should be geared to design and construction and then to plug into AASHTOWare for the operational end it serves well.
• This is a large and complex project - help/input is needed from all stakeholders.
• The project will develop and make one-half and two day presentations to demonstrate how an integrated system will operate, compare 2-D drafting vs. 3-D modeling, and illustrate the benefits stakeholders will achieve.
• Interaction with the committee during development will be through quarterly reports that will include the reporting of the completion of subtasks. Information will also be disseminated through the FHWA Web site.