As part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade in preparation for the line's electrification, Network Rail commissioned Double Check Engineering Ltd to design the U-Type Rail Bridge in Tadcaster. This initiative will enable more frequent, faster, and heavier passenger and freight trains to run. This is a key part of delivering the Transpennine Route Upgrade’s aims to transform journeys across the North – better connecting towns and cities between York, Leeds and Manchester on a high-performing, greener and more reliable railway.
In collaboration with Harrisons Engineering, who undertook the fabrication work, the Double Check Engineering Ltd team detailed the structure in strict accordance with Network Rail Standard Designs, ensuring compliance within the existing railway infrastructure.
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Challenges and achievements
The challenges faced in this project centred around the development of an innovative Grasshopper script to fully model the U-Type Rail Bridge within Tekla Structures, modelling the entire bridge and walkways within this environment. The use of Grasshopper-Tekla Live Link at this level of detail was unprecedented in the industry. Through dedicated learning and development, the project was successfully completed using this new modelling approach in Tekla.
Double Check Engineering Ltd takes immense pride in pioneering the use of this innovative script, marking a significant milestone in the creation of Network Rail Standard Design Parametric U-Type Bridges. The script relies heavily on the use of Tekla Live Link and the Tekla Structures environment.
Looking ahead, Double Check Engineering Ltd aspires to revolutionise BIM workflow methodologies by extending the script's capabilities to output to various discipline-specific software platforms, such as Tekla Structural Designer. This aims to optimise project stages, creating an authentic data-rich source, and therefore advancing the engineering process.
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Using Tekla software
- Custom components were created for walkway details that were referenced using the Grasshopper-Tekla Live Link.
 - Trimble Connect was used to share updates in the model with the client, and also for approval purposes.
