INNOVATION IN STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
The primary goal of this project was to provide the finest accommodations and
best Pacific Ocean and Diamond Head views in Waikiki, Hawaii. Baldridge &
Associates created an innovative structure that fulfills its purpose without
interfering with views or saleable space. An innovative thin-floor system allows
for additional floors in the $442 million hotel and tower.
Constrained by Waikiki’s 350-foot height limit, the project team used RAM
Concept to design 19 unique floor slabs. Lower floors were designed with
6-inch slabs and upper floors with longer spans used 6.5-inch slabs. With an
integrated design process for post-tensioned concrete slabs, including 3D finite-element analysis and drawing-ready rebar detailing, RAM Concept allowed
quick exploration of various slab alternatives, leading to an optimized design.
DHV BV
Terminal Breda
Breda, Netherlands
Breda Central Station in the Netherlands will be one of the five stations of
the Dutch part of the high-speed railway link between Amsterdam and Paris,
France. ProRail and the municipality of Breda will reconstruct the entire railway
station and surrounding city blocks. This will result in a total new terminal
complex consisting a new (third) platform, new bus station, bicycle parking,
a new and widened passenger tunnel, integrated office building, shops, four
restaurants, apartments, and an elevated car park for 700 cars.
Due to the large scale of the project, the model was split up in building blocks
drafted in 3D. The advantage of this approach—which used MicroStation
and Bentley’s BIM offerings—was the simplification of a complex project
and an increase in design freedom. Unlike flat drawings, a 3D model provides
an immediate understanding of the design and the structural possibilities,
speeding the flow of communications.
