Innovation in Structural Engineering

Projects in this category demonstrate excellence in planning, modeling, analyzing, designing, documenting, detailing, or delivering one or more structures. They also illustrate how the use of technical innovation can deliver high-quality structures or improved structural project workflows. Quality of these structures may be manifested in terms of the structure’s functional performance, delivery process, or quality of service or otherwise.

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Winner

Edge Structures Ltd
Wimbledon Centre Court Redevelopment and Retractable Roof
Wimbledon, United Kingdom

The four-year improvement program at the All-England Club in a London suburb of the United Kingdom was staged around the annual championships, a feat that required collaboration among the design team, main contractor, and supplier fabricators. The project scope included redeveloping the east stand of center court, extending the terrace to provide an additional six rows of seating, and adding a retractable roof for adverse weather conditions.

From the outset, design review sessions were conducted using Bentley’s BIM offerings to promote creativity via open forums. Live models were manipulated on screen to communicate with stakeholders, which encouraged individual as well as collaborative innovation. The ability to quickly visualize how new proposals could be constructed was key to the phasing of work between the championships.

Watch the Be Inspired best practice presentation


Finalist	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP Lotte Super Tower Diagrid Connection Modeling Seoul, Korea The 112-story Lotte Super Tower proposed for Seoul, South Korea, is a 550-meter-tall, mixed-use building with a steel diagrid structural system. The exterior structural diagrid has 68 unique (432 total) joints at which six major members come together at a single point. Morphing from a square base to a circular top, the building geometry posed a technical challenge for the structural engineering team. The team developed custom tools to manage the diagrid connection geometry, enabling it to create accurate physical and analytical 3D models of the structure. MicroStation and Bentley structural software provided the main interface to the custom application used to parametrically describe and manage the node connections. The 3D model supported creation of 2D and 3D drawings and the provision of accurate digital information to the steel supplier/fabricator. Watch the Be Inspired best practice presentation

Finalist	USACE Portland District Cougar Dam and Reservoir Adult Fish Collection Facility Blue River, Oregon, United States Located on the South Fork of the McKenzie River near Blue River, Ore., the Cougar Adult Fish Collection Facility will assist in a collecting, sorting, and transporting program to connect fish populations located upstream and downstream of Cougar Dam. The $14.7 million facility includes a fish ladder, pre-sort pool, sorting facility, and two pump structures for water supply. MicroStation, ProjectWise, and STAAD enabled a shared model approach that allowed for structural, mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, civil, and geotechnical engineers to effectively integrate the design. Challenges were addressed by fostering collaboration among the design team members to maximize product reviews and ensure effective communication. Watch the Be Inspired best practice presentation