This month, we have been researching, contacting companies, studying preliminary designs, and beginning to experiment with designs in ANSYS.

We have researched the specific type of bridge we are designing: center bearing pedestrian swing bridge. We have researched the existing Gray’s Ferry Swing Bridge, its mechanisms and shortcomings. We have also researched the plans for the new pedestrian bridge in its spot. We have also found scholarly articles from ASCE and other databases that explain the process, design, and results of verified swing bridge designs. These designs will be used as a basis for our design; we will create them in ANSYS to achieve the same results as in the article. These validated results will be built off of, so that there is confidence that our bridge design, created off of their bridge design, is also validated correctly.

We contacted SRDC (Schuylkill River Development Corporation), Hardesty & Hanover, and Louis Berger to set up a site visit. We will be meeting with representatives, professional engineers and CEO’s from these companies at the Gray’s Ferry Bridge construction site on Wednesday, October 5. We have done preliminary research and calculations based on this bridge that we will compare to their design and request more input on how to make an ideal design for our bridge.

We have studied the existing Gray’s Ferry Bridge designs, given to us by SRDC, to study the basic mechanisms that go into designing a center bearing swing bridge. We have begun experimenting with ANSYS to create simple designs to aid in our process once our designs have been decided on.

Preliminary research on different types of movable bridges and possible bridge locations was done throughout the summer. In September, it was chosen to redesign the Gray’s Ferry abandoned rail swing bridge over the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Research is being done on the types of mechanisms needed, the traffic across the bridge, and the environment and weather of the area. Research has also been done on how this bridge will be validated without a full moving prototype. ANSYS has been tested by the team members and optimal methods for creating a correct, verifiable geometry have been studied.  A trip to visit the site with the companies working on the new bridge is scheduled for next week. We have also obtained drawings and specifications for the current bridge to assist in beginning our design. We are currently studying the codes required for movable and pedestrian bridges and are deciding on an optimal design to fit the constraints due to the environment and the type of bridge.