I-90 Loop Missouri River Bridge Type Study Photosimulations South Dakota DOT, Chamberlain, South Dakota POITRA Visual provided photo-realistic simulations for the Jacobs Engineering Rehabilitation or Replacement Study of the multi-span I-90 Loop crossing of the Missouri River in Chamberlain, South Dakota for the South Dakota Department of Transportation. Design Visualization was needed to communicate design alternatives during an active public participation program. POITRA made a photo survey of the site in South Dakota concentrating on views that would illustrate the view impact to residents and best describe the proposed alternatives. The alternates included a steel I-girder structure, and two steel truss alternates, one of which was designed to utilized the existing piers.

Simplified 3D model truss members were accurately sized and configured according to design plans.

2. Photosimulation of Proposed Structure Concept: Truss Alternative with new truss spans set on existing piers.

Photosimulations 4 3 2 1 E Mouse-over images above to toggle between the existing photo and the photosimulations.

A photograph was selected from the survey to represent existing conditions for the simulations. Additional background area of the river channel and banks would be visible behind the existing bridge once it was removed. Different areas beyond each of the proposed alternatives would also be visible depending upon which structure was depicted. To accommodate this need the artists at POITRA Visual removed the original structure from the existing photo entirely to create a new base photo ready to receive any of the proposed designs. POITRA Visual's 3D modelers used the engineer's preliminary design plans to create 3D models of the structure alternatives. The bridge design backgrounds of the POITRA Visual principals greatly expidited this process. Each alternate structure model was then camera matched to the existing photograph. The 3D models were then appropriately lighted, rendered and composited with the new base photograph to create a photo-realistic simulation for each of the three rehabilitation and replacement alternatives proposed by the study. POITRA designed large display boards for each of the alternatives, that included a view of the existing structure for comparison, titles for alternative identification and a location map. The boards were printed and mounted and used as meeting materials for the South Dakota Department of Transportation's public process. The photosimulations also appeared in project study documents. « BACK

Graphic artists at POITRA Visual created project maps and display boards for each alternative (click to magnify).