West Point Bridge Designer 2015

As the name suggests, West Point Bridge Designer 2015 is a designing software suit that includes various tools to model, test and optimize a steel highway bridge. For modeling, testing and optimizing, one has to provide realistic specifications, constraint (check) and performance data. It allows you to experience engineering through an authentic hands-on design.

In the US middle schools and high schools, this software is used nationwide to create an internet based competitive framework to promote math, science and engineering education among students. Even this was the only version of the engineering software that could be used for 2015 Bridge Design Contest.

How does the software work?

Using West Point Bridge Designer 2015 software is like practicing civil engineering design to create real highway bridges. One can experience the engineering design process in quite simple way. The following is the step-by-step guide on how to use this software:

• On opening this software, you'd be given a requirement to design a steel tether bridge that can carry a 2 lane expressway across a river.
• Different site configurations are available to be chosen to design your bridge. Each configuration will help you to design a bridge that can carry in a different way.
• The next step is to design a bridge by simply drawing a picture of the bridge on the computer screen.
• On completion of your design, the West Point Bridge software would test your bridge to check its strength to carry the specific expressway loads. During testing, it'd demonstrate a colorful real time animation of a truck passing the bridge. If the truck is able to pass the bridge successfully, the bridge is considered to be okay. Otherwise, the bridge will collapse. In the later case, one can change the specifications of the bridge to further strengthen the bridge.
• Once the testing is completed successfully, one can further define the design of the bridge to minimize its overall cost while ensuring its strength to carry the specified load.

The beauty of the software lies in the fact that it gives you complete control in terms of choosing your design or configuration you need. The software provides you the platform to create the bridge design fast and in an most easiest way. You have the flexibility of using as many configurations as you want to achieve the best possible solution. This software is quite similar to computer-aided design (CAD) software which is quite popular and practiced by civil engineers. 

Hardware & Software Requirements: There are 2 versions of West Point Bridge Designer 2015 - Windows and Mac. For the Windows version, you need at-least Windows XP (but newer O.S. is recommended). Similarly on Mac front, one need Mac OS X 10.7.3 Lion (or later version).

The hardware requirements are as per OS recommended though more RAM is desirable for the designing work.

Download West Point Bridge Designer 2017