Bula Bridge

Hello! Welcome to my instructable! My name is Scott Hu and I am currently a junior attending Sage Hill School. I enjoy going out with my friends and playing sports. I would consider myself a STEM-orientated person but I'm also a published artist and an avid DJ. One of my interests is to find the connections between the arts and engineering.

The bridge I designed is my attempt at recreating the ingenuity of the natural world. By looking at a tree's function and form, I've created a bridge that not only connects two distancing communities in Fiji but also serves to strengthen and provide for the surrounding area. Using drip-irrigated vertical gardens and rainwater drinking fountains, my bridge produces mental and physical substance. Furthermore, the bridge's subterranean supports, similar to the roots of a tree, provide structure to an eroding riverbed.

I want to make clear that all visuals and images I rendered and modeled on my own. Furthermore, I want to emphasize that prior to this competition, my knowledge and experience with BIM was very limited. I had done one project with Fusion 360 but it was very basic. Even though it was basic, I had so much fun. It was one of those things where you forget about time and just let your mind wander. I fell in love with CAD's ability to create. Whether it be a small toy or a building, CAD allows someone to create something of value for others. A totally unique, one-of-a-kind creation made to provide solutions to problems while nurturing growth and innovation. I wanted to do this so I entered this competition in hopes of furthering my abilities in creating.

When I first found this competition the "Make it Bridge" immediately caught my attention as I've always been interested in architecture. When I was young I always marveled at the incredible feats of engineering that dotted our world. The two that always stood out to me were skyscrapers and bridges. Their ability to stand out and define a cityscape or landscape was what made them so awe-inspiring. Bridges especially were marvels that amazed me. Traversing them, whether it be over a river or freeway, always had its thrill. Many bridges also provided astounding views sometimes being full panoramas. These structures connected two places and made them one. As I grew older, I began noticing how bridges functioned in their respective community. Some were for economic and others were for societal purposes. Wherever a bridge was built it was to bring together and solve. My goal in this project was to encompass all of these goals.

This project exposed me to several professions and fields. It gave me insight into what it's like to be an engineer, what needs to be taken into account, who your benefiting, and who your hurting. During the duration of the project, I encountered many setbacks that pushed me to work even harder. I would never have imagined being able to do the things I do now. The lessons and experience I gained from creating my bridge will stay with me as I continue into the future.

My instructable will begin with my initial ideas and design process. I will then explain the many aspects of my bridge and the purpose it serves. Then, I will go into detail about the features that I think set this bridge apart from others. Finally, I will explain how I modeled and rendered the bridge. I hope that my project teaches others the beauty of creating. The final product you are about to see is the result of 2 months of work. I hope you enjoy it!

Physical Supplies:

Tape Measure

Ruler

Pencils

Tape

Journal

Phone (for Photos)

Computer (ideally a strong PC if you plan on rendering)

Digital Supplies:

Fusion 360

Inventor

AutoCAD

Revit

Revit Plug-Ins (both have free 30-day trials):

V-Ray for Revit by Chaos

Environment for Revit by Arch-Intelligence

Imported Files via GRABCAD (import to Fusion 360):

Small Water Treatment Plant

Centrifugal Pump

Electronic Valve

Water Tank

Ladder

Water Fountain

Street Light

Door

Solar Panels

Going into my initial brainstorming, I wanted my bridge to have a strong connection with its surrounding environment. I'm a strong believer in looking to nature for engineering inspiration, after all, it was here first. I kept this in mind in the early stages of brainstorming, however, at the time school was my priority and I almost forgot about the bridge. It wasn't until I was sitting in class a few weeks later that a spark went off in my head. I was looking outside at the branches of a tree, zoning out of my APUSH class. I stared at them for a good minute gradually noticing how similar the branch's form was to the DAR pedestrian bridge's supports. At that moment an idea formed, what if I incorporated the branches of a tree into the design of a bridge? The branches would act as the supports branching out and upwards. I quickly grabbed a piece of paper and sketched out a rough design concept. After putting it on paper, I knew I had found my design. The visual aspect was very distinctive and unique. It was a structure that would catch the eye of passers-byes.

With a design in mind, I needed to find a location in my community where this bridge could come to life. As I explored my community I came across many places where I felt a bridge was needed. I looked at the political and social demographics of my area. I looked for divides that needed to be brought together. I decided on a nearby marine protected area called "Upper Newport Bay". The bay divided a high and low-income area into two distinct communities. A bridge would significantly reduce travel times as the bay had no crossings. I thought I had found my golden idea, however, a trip to Fiji would shake things up.

Every year, my family and I visit Fiji as my grandparents live there. Because of the pandemic, this year's trip was the first in a while. I was excited to finally see my grandparents and enjoy the warm water and sun. My grandparents live in Votualevu, a town just outside of Nadi, the second-biggest city on the main island of Viti Levu. I consider it a second home and have many childhood memories there. During this year's visit, my parents sent me to work at a nearby farm as they thought it would be a good "learning experience". Called Bula Agro, the farm's initiative is to spread awareness about Fiji's food insecurity. The recent COVID-19 outbreak made Fiji's food security situation very apparent. Agricultural production, distribution, and food access were negatively impacted by lockdowns, travel restrictions, and supply chain disruptions. In addition, prior to the pandemic, Fiji faced food shortages as a result of a number of variables, including climate-related occurrences (such as cyclones and droughts), a lack of agricultural resources, and economic difficulties. Both rural and urban areas were impacted by these problems, and vulnerable populations including low-income families and isolated villages were particularly at risk. To combat these problems, the government implemented a number of programs and organizations to promote local farms. With more local farms, the population would have an alternative food source that would allow less reliance on imports. Bula Agro was a result of one of these organizations' initiatives. Their farming techniques are quite unconventional as they have to adapt to Fiji's harsh and unpredictable weather. I observed many plants growing in greenhouses and containers. I worked with different types of plants primarily those that were more resistant to irregular weather. One of which was cassava, which I learned was an extremely durable plant that could be used to make flour and starch.

The farm is located on a riverbank where riverbed erosion is very apparent along their shore. This problem is common throughout Fiji as sea levels increase due to global warming. To combat this, the farmers at Bula Agro had put rocks and tires along the shore to prevent the water levels from reaching the eroded areas. These methods, however, are only temporary. A more permanent method is needed to solve this problem. I learned that to prevent soil erosion on a broader scale, many conservationists in Fiji plant mangrove trees. The roots of mangrove trees grow vertically and horizontally, creating a network of roots that hold the soil firmly in place, and help anchor the tree in the soft, muddied soil of coastal areas. They act as a natural barrier between the soil and the water, keeping it from being swept away by the currents and tidal forces. As long as there is some form of structure in the soil, it will hold and reduce the effects of riverbed erosion. Learning about this made me think back to my bridge which I wanted to model after a tree. I thought to myself, what if the bridge were built here? The added foundations of the bridge would add structure to the soil. Furthermore, there was no solid form of river crossing for miles in each direction. The locals had relied on crossing natural bridges that were being slowly enveloped by growing sea levels. The lack of a permanent crossing was becoming quite a problem. I felt that this is where my bridge was needed. The more I brainstormed the more I came across reasons to create here. This bridge would connect communities, provide physical and mental substance, better the environment, and be a defining trait of the landscape.

Now you may be thinking doesn't the community have to be in the US? Well, the rules don't specify that the community has to be in the US. However, to make sure this was allowed, I emailed the Instructable support and they said it was ok as long as I lived and attended school in the US.

The bridge crosses the Nadi River, a natural barrier that not only divides the land but separates two ways of life. One side is much more urbanized and shows rapid gentrification. The other side, however, is quite different as it is much more rural with many small scattered villages. As shown by the map, one side of the river has the city of Votualevu and the Nadi International Airport. Meanwhile, the other side is mostly rural lands with many scattered villages. This urban-rural divide is becoming much more apparent in the 21 century as Fiji begins to modernize. Fiji’s urban areas, such as Suva or Nadi, have superior infrastructure such as paved roads, public transportation, and faster communication networks. These areas also have better access to basic services such as hospitals, schools, and universities. On the other hand, rural areas often lack such infrastructure and services. Because of this, the standard of living tends to be better in urban areas. In addition, because of the land divide, economic opportunities vary greatly. In urban areas, there are more job opportunities, particularly in tourism, commerce, and services. In rural areas, employment opportunities are more limited with most taking on farming. With few options for income, poverty grows at an unprecedented rate in some of the country's most marginalized rural communities.

I wanted my bridge to address these problems by connecting the two distancing communities. If a bridge were to be built here it would not only bring the communities closer but significantly cut travel times. People from the nearby villages would be able to commute on foot (many of these villagers don't own cars) to Votualevu and find/maintain jobs. This works both ways as many people in Votualevu have jobs on the other side of the river. I know this because across the river is the Manhao Hotel where my cousins work. Their commute to work is unnecessarily long due to there being no walkable crossings of the river nearby.

Having the bridge on a farm is ideal as it brings attention to Fiji's food insecurity. People crossing the bridge would be exposed to new methods of farming and see how Fiji's agricultural sector is rapidly expanding. Spreading awareness is important for major change to occur.

With an idea and goal in mind, I began planning. I walked around the farm taking a bunch of photos, mostly of the river bank. As I would have to wait until I returned to the US to CAD, these would be the photos I would use to map out my modeling. Even though I didn't have my computer, I was able to draft a number of initial designs on paper. As soon as I left the farm I began drafting and making different variants with unique features. While doing this, I tried to best replicate a tree. I wanted this bridge to become a tree. There were a number of ambitious but unrealistic ideas that I had to drop.

For materials, I planned on using cost-efficient and durable materials. I wanted this bridge to be realistic. Not too far in the future but innovative enough to catch the eye of a passerby. In regards to structural support, I wasn't too worried as I expected the loads on the bridge to be minimal. I also looked into aerodynamics as I noticed a lot of broken bridges in Fiji, as a result of cyclone winds. Fortunately, the bridge site is more inland and less vulnerable to high winds. Nonetheless, I designed the bridge floor and roof to redirect air reducing the drag force caused by high winds.

Overview: The water system on my bridge is a fully sustainable system that utilizes the abundant annual rainwater of Fiji. Water is crucial to the agricultural sector, which is relied on heavily by most of the population.

During my time in Fiji, I noticed how often it rained, one minute it was sunny and the next it'd be pouring. Each year Fiji receives around 100 in of rain. According to a study done by World Bank in 2017, Fiji is ranked 12th in the world for average annual rainfall. Because of this, many houses in both rural and urban areas utilized gutters to collect rainwater. The rainwater is then stored in containers for daily use. Some communities, mostly rural, use it as drinking water, however, this can have negative effects on health. I wanted to take advantage of the rain so I implemented gutters to the roof of my bridge. The gutters run along the sides of a majority of the roof. The sloped roof makes for a smooth flow of water to the collection points. There are 4 collection points each at a corner of the roof. Hollow pillars below each collection point allow water to flow down into pipes underground. The pipes are angled downwards allowing for water to move using gravity. Through the pipes, water is transported to storage tanks housed in underground concrete structures. The advantage of having storage underground is that the water will remain at a cool temperature. In these structures, there are two 10000-liter tanks, plenty of storage for the predicted rainfall. The two tanks are connected with two pipes to keep the water level balanced in each tank. One tank is connected to a centrifugal pump that generates more than enough pressure to operate the system. There are two water storage structures each on one side of the river bank. One is in charge of providing irrigation to the vertical gardens on the bridge. The other is in charge of redirecting filtered drinking water to the bridges' drinking fountains. The irrigation system can be seen in photos 2-6 and the filtered water system can be seen in photos 7-13. The filtration system in the container produces very clean water.

About halfway into my modeling, I discovered drip-irrigated vertical farms, a relatively new and innovative form of farming. Vertical farming differs from conventional farming in that crops are grown vertically rather than in fields. Using this method allows farmers to make the most of space by growing crops in vertical areas, such as on walls or in specially designed structures. In my design, vertical gardens are built into the supporting columns of the bridge. Just like a real tree, greenery and produce sprout from the "branches" of the bridge. Using drip irrigation, the water is efficiently delivered straight to the plant's roots. This allows for water conservation and greater crop yield. In addition to acting as a food source, vertical gardens can be used as educational resources to teach people about gardening, sustainable lifestyles, and the value of environmental preservation. Furthermore, there are psychological benefits to having gardens on a bridge. Greenery and natural elements are known to have a positive impact on mental health and well-being. Vertical gardens can help reduce stress, improve mood, and promote relaxation.

Inside each column is a drip irrigation system that I designed taking inspiration from youtube videos and current products on the market. Water is pumped through pipes in the bridge deck to each pillar where electronic valves regulate water usage. Once the valves have been activated, the pressure of the pump will cause the water to rise to the top. There the water will split into multiple PVC pipes. At the end of each pipe are holes where water will come out. The water will be caught by water catchers and dripped directly onto the plants by a dripper. As the water continues to flow, excess water will drip from the soil to the next catcher. This process occurs all the way to the bottom of the pillar where water is drained into the river.

Each pot has a diameter of 4.30 inches allowing a variety of small vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce, beans, and spinach, to be grown. Due to the curve of the roof, the columns vary in height, increasing towards the center. Eight of the columns have a 30in diameter while the two larger columns have a 55in diameter. The two bigger ones are at the center of each circular observation deck. They have two drinking fountains with filtered water as explained in the previous step. Due to plants needing sufficient amounts of sunlight, I incorporated vast circular skylights at the top of each vertical garden.

Now, I will cover how I modeled this bridge. Most of the modeling will be done in Fusion 360 and then imported to Revit for final touch-ups and rendering. In each step, I will cover how I modeled each part providing images for each step. If I feel it necessary I will add extra information about my decisions and the materials/construction process required. If at any point my words don't make sense refer to the photos, they're in chronological order and will guide you through the entire process. For units of measurement, I'm using inches as it is easiest to visualize for me.

I would recommend having a good deal of experience with CAD to be able to do this. Although, it is a good learning experience to dive in as I did.

Modeling: To model the bridge floor begin by opening a new fusion project. Hit create a sketch and select the bottom plane (you should be looking down on the origin). Create a line that is 2,661in (220ft) long. At the midpoint of the line create two perpendicular 141 in long lines. Then, at each end create a similar profile to the 2nd photo. Using a spline line, connect the endpoints with the middle segments. At the center create a circle with a 500in diameter. 764in each direction creates two more circles with 450in diameter. Using the Loft tool create a body in between the two profiles at each end of the center line using the spline lines as guide rails. Extrude all three circles 12in up. Using the chamfer type: distance and angle, the top edge of the circle should have an angle of 25° and be 12in long and the bottom edge should have an angle of 65 and be 6in long. Done, your model should look like the last photo.

Info: Using Google Maps I estimated the width of the riverbed to be around 70 ft long and the distance from riverbank to riverbank to be around 220 ft. The gradual widening towards the center of the bridge was meant to give people a spacious sense as they walked on the bridge. There are three circles indicating meeting areas where people can socialize while enjoying the view. The middle one is the largest with a 500in diameter while the other two have diameters of 450in. Furthermore, the bridge's floor is designed with aerodynamics in mind. Each fine edge allows for reduced surface area in turn reducing any possible drag.

Materials/Construction: The bridge floor will be made of concrete as it is both cost-efficient and durable. It will utilize post-tensioning, a method of construction that is utilized to reinforce concrete buildings and bridges. It includes inserting high-strength steel cables or strands—commonly referred to as tendons—into the floor frame prior to the concrete being poured. Once the concrete has hardened and developed adequate strength, these tendons are then tensioned, maintaining the compression of the concrete.

Modeling: Begin by creating a sketch (this time you should be looking at a side profile). At the center of the floor create a vertical line 144in tall. At the edges create two vertical 108in lines. 400in from the edges creates a 70-in vertical line. Using a spline line, connect the center vertical lines with the farthest vertical line(this will create a wide arc). 72in from the edge, create a vertical line to the spline. Using that line cut the excess of the spline line off. Offset the spline line by 12in and close the profile created. Now, we are ready to extrude. Using symmetric extrude, extrude the profile 156-in in each direction. Lastly, we need to fillet and chamfer the edges (refer to the photos).

Info: The roof is curved to allow water to flow to the gutters. The edges are also smoothed out to reduce drag caused by strong winds.

Materials/Construction: Steel to reduce the contamination on the rainwater.

Modeling: For the railings, make a new sketch and copy the circles and outer spline line from the bridge floor sketch. Trim the excess lines so you have one continuous line (these will be used for the railings). Then create a side profile of a railing in the intended place on the bridge (this is where you can try different designs however I have provided my design above). Once done with the side profile use symmetric extrude and then fillet the edges. To make the railing supports continue along the entire bridge use the pattern along a path tool. Select bodies and click on the railing support. For the path, select the continuous line you created at the beginning.

To make the wiring, evenly space 7 points on the railing support side profile(mine were around 5.7in apart). Then, click on the continuous line you made in the first step and use the move/copy tool. Line up each copied line with a point. to make the wiring, use the pipe tool for the seven lines and input a diameter of 0.6 inches. The railing is made by a similar process just that a rectangular side profile is added. Use the loft tool to connect the rectangular profiles of the railing.

Modeling: The structural supports are much more simpler, I used sketches to create a basic outline of what I wanted the structures to look like. Then, using the pipe tool I created the supports with varying diameters. I utilized the mirror tool only modeling onside of the bridge and then mirroring it over to the other side. Each side has 3 main supports with 55-inch diameters. The outside main columns have 45-in diameters. The circular structures have support beams that are 24-in in diameter. The idea behind the supports on the circular structure was to resemble a tree branching out. This is where I would give the most leeway in terms of design. The only thing I kept constant was that the bottom of each collum had to be along the spline and the top had to be 136-in away from the roof. I will say, however, that when designing you need to keep stress points in mind. Although this is a pedestrian bridge, stress still needs to be taken into account.

Modeling: For the hydroponic columns I will demonstrate how to do the tallest one (the other three only vary in height and can be easily adjusted). For this, you will need to open a new tab as working with the sketches from the bridge can be confusing. Create a sketch on the top/bottom plane. Draw a vertical line 150in long and at each end create two circles with a radius of 30 and 26 inches. Extrude the ring created to around 140 inches. On the edge of the inner circle draw a 6in verticle line with a 1.25in line perpendicular to it pointing inwards. Perpendicular to the 1.25in long line create a line of any length (this will be used as a reference point for an angled plane). Using the reference line create an angle plane at -35°.

Now, create a sketch on the angled plane. Draw a 6-inch line perpendicular to the plane. At the bottom of the line create circles with radii of 3.5 3.4 2.9 and 1.1 inches. At the top of the line create circles with radii of 4.84 4.5 and 4.4 inches.

Next, create a line connecting the two second-most outer circles. At the bottom of this line create a line that is 0.4 in long and make a rectangular shape with dimensions of width 0.6 in and length 1.5 in. Then, create two lines spaced 20° apart that span to the third outer circle. Now we are ready to extrude. Using the loft tool, extrude between the outermost circle on the bottom and the second Outer Circle at the top. Repeat the loft tool, but this time use the cut option and the profile between the third outer circle at the bottom and the innermost circle at the top. Extrude the base of the sketch by 0.5in. You should now have a cup-looking object.

Using the rectangular profile made in the sketch cut through the entire cup. Pattern this feature linearly by three and circularly by 7. Then, cut the profile made by the angled lines. Use the circular pattern on this feature and create nine quantities.

To create the indent on the rim of the cup. Mimic the sketch profile in image 9 and revolve it. Lastly, fillet the inner and outer edges. We have our planter cup! (Image 10)

Now, we need to incorporate it into the column. Begin by revolving the spline profile around the cup (it should look like a chubby cup that's halfway in the column).

Use the Loft to cut from the top circle to the bottom circle of the cup. Then extrude-cut outwards from the top of the cylinder. To cut the chubby casing we will need to hide the plant cup. Simply click on the body and hit "V". now that the planter cup is out of view, we can extrude-cut the inside of the cylinder. After the extrude cut right click on bodies and press show all. There should be part of the planter cup sticking out of the inner cylinder. Since we need a lot of these cups we will use the linear and circular pattern on a path to cover the cylinder in plant pots. For the pattern along the path tool, select the center line as the path and enter 7 quantities at a distance of 125 inches. For the circular pattern select all 7 pots in the vertical row, select the center line as the axis, and enter 7 quantities.

This concludes the outer appearance of the vertical farm. If you want to get more in detail continue in the next step, however, if you don't, skip it.

Modeling: Now that we have the outer structure of the vertical garden, it is time to work on the inside. Before we start, I would recommend using the sectional view to see the inside of the cylinder. Alright now that we can see better we shall begin. Begin with a sketch at the bottom of the cylinder. Draw a vertical line to around the same level as the first cup. Here we will create the Loft profiles needed to make the water catcher and dripper. Now because these sketches are pretty complex I feel providing photos instead of a description would be more effective. So, for the sketches of the dripper, refer to photos 3-7, and for sketches of the catcher, refer to photos 8-13. Now, I don't recommend copying what I did as it would be very hard and tedious. Instead, I recommend you create your own catcher and dripper. The catcher should cover a decent amount of area and be slanted downwards so water will be able to flow. The dripper should be able to redirect the water caught by the catcher. I made holes in the dripper to allow water to drip through to get broader coverage of the soil. Once you have your designed catcher and dripper we need to move them to their appropriate positions. Hit "m" and select the body you want to move. When moving I recommend you use the arrows only and not the squares. Although they allow free movement, they also cause the measurement numbers to become very specific, such as 1.23456. I always try to avoid getting into specific numbers as they are hard to deal with. Ok, back to moving bodies. The catcher and dripper should be arranged so that the dripper is just above the plant basket and the catcher is just above the dripper. The corners of the catcher should be inside the pillar. Once in an appropriate position use the combine tool to merge the catcher and dripper bodies. With them as one body, we can use pattern along a path and circular pattern to distribute them throughout the cylinder. The pattern along a path should have quantity: 7, distance: 125in, and start point: 0.088. The circular pattern should have quantity: 7 and the axis will be the vertical centerline of the cylinder. We have now completed the water catcher/dripper system.

The next part is modeling the pipes that will eventually carry and distribute the water to the garden. Create a sketch and place it on the bottom circle of the cylinder. Create a circle with a 20-inch diameter. From the center create seven equally angled lines 10 inches long. Repeat the last sentence but with 2.5-inch segments. Connect these lines to make a septagon. At each vertex of the septagon, create a circle with a diameter of one inch. In addition, create 1.5-in long lines along both edges leading away from the vertices. At the midpoint of each edge of the septagon, create a line that connects to the center of the circle. furthermore, at the midpoint of the edges, create 1.5-in segments in each direction.

Create a 131.5-in vertical line downwards from the center of the circle. Starting from the top of the line, go 1.5-in down and create a circle with a diameter of 1.7-in; go down another 7 in and create another circle with a diameter of 3.2-in; go another 40-in down and create another circle with a diameter of 10-in; go down another 40-in and create another circle with a diameter of 10-in. Finally, we are ready to create the pipes. Using the pipe tool, make a heptagon shape with lines from the midpoints of the edges joining at the middle. The pipe's section size is 1.7-in and the section thickness is 0.15-in(make sure that they are hollow). Using the circular sections made earlier on the 131.5-in line, loft and extrude them so they make a pole that gets pointy at the top. Next, use the pipe tool to create the PVC couplers. At all of the junctions with 1.5-in segments, create hollow pipes with a section size of 2 inches and a section thickness of 0.15 inches. The piping is done, however, we need to add structural support to the center tube. Extrude the two circles spaced 40 inches from each other by 12 inches, and fillet their edges (it should look like a disk). Create 4 perpendicular pipes that run out of the disks connecting with the inner walls of the vertical farm. Once this is done we have completed the vertical farm (inside).

Modeling: For the pump rooms, we will use mostly imported models. The only modeling needed is to create the concrete structure. Create a sketch and copy the footprint in the first and second photos. Extrude the outer outline 120 inches up. Import two water tanks and use joints to bind them at the center of each circle. Create another sketch with the plane being the top of the box. Create a rectangular profile that covers the entire top and extrude it 10 inches up.

Import the ladder and use a joint to bind it to the wall (you can center and move the body after it has been jointed). To make the concrete tower make copy the sketch footprint in image 7. Extrude the outline 65 inches up. Using the rectangle profile, extrude-cut 4 inches down. In this space, import the centrifugal pump and center it so the pipe lines up with the tank output hole. Lastly, use the pipe tool to create two pipes connecting the two tanks with diameters of 4 inches and a wall thickness of 1 inch. The pump rooms are now complete. To add piping just extrude the circle profiles made by the output hole of the centrifugal pump.

This is where I switched to Revit. Prior to this competition, I had zero experience with Revit, and although I spent many hours on it I still have yet to discover all of its features. For this project, I used Revit to model the riverbed and the scenery in it.

Modeling: To begin, search Arch intelligence’s environment for Revit and install the free trial. Follow the website's instructions and install the plug-in to Revit. Do the same with Chaos's V-ray for Revit (at the time of this making Chaos’s V-ray is only supported on Revit 2023). Once you have both plugins installed on Revit, open up a new project. To begin, go to structures and click "model line". Create a decently sized rectangle, mine was 1550 by 970 feet. Once you have your work area start drawing the topographic lines of the intended area. The specific riverbed that I modeled didn't have any topographic information online so I eyeballed it with Google Maps. Through observation I modeled the lines of the riverbed using spline lines, randomizing bumps and curves as I went. The overall river curves where the farm is, so the river bed as a whole makes a bend. I used "level 1" as the "river level" in this model. The ground level was about 43 feet above level 1. Through trial and error, I used the environment plugin to set the spline lines at certain elevations. I tweaked around with the elevations. My final elevations were as follows, the bottom of the river was at -10 feet, the shoreline was at 0ft, the sand met dirt at around 2 feet, and the ground level was at 43 feet. The shore has a slight incline which rapidly steepens as we approach ground level. I leveled off the elevation at 43 feet after reaching the ground level to make things easier for me.

Using the environment plugin I created the topographic form using the from edge tool. It basically connects all selected lines to make a form. With a riverbed completely made of dirt, I needed to split the surface into water, sand, and dirt. Splitting the surface can be done by going to the top view and drawing the line that you want your surface to be divided with. To keep the split lines separate from the topographic lines, I set the split lines to a higher level. Split lines can be seen in the 7th image (they are the green faint lines). To actually split the surface, go to the massing and site tab and select "Split Surface". It will ask you to select the surface you want to select, once you do so, it will ask which entity you want to split it with. Since we have split lines go to the draw section and scroll down. Select the pointer with the green line in the background, this tool allows us to select pre-drawn lines. Click the split line and it should turn bright pink that means it's valid and you can hit the green check mark. Using this I split the region into 11 distinct regions. If you click on one of these regions, under properties, you can assign a material to it. I assigned the appropriate materials to each region.

As seen in the photos, the riverbed has an abundant variety of vegetation. In order to properly replicate this I used the scatter feature from the V-ray plugin. The scatter feature allows you to randomly scatter entities across a certain area. This future was ideal as I needed to scatter a wide range of vegetation across the riverbank. To do this you need to first enable V-ray in the V-ray tab. Once you do that, you want to open up the asset editor and appearance manager. In the asset editor in the bottom left-hand corner click the circle with a plus sign. Hover over geometries and click scatter. Now open up Chaos Cosmos and browse the wide range of vegetation. For my river bed, I used Mazari Palms 003, Bottlebrush Buckeye19-33, Grasstree 002, Tree 176 007, Common Hazel 19-34, Common Hazel Tree 54-19, and Country Almond 003. Import the desired entity and place them on the riverbank. After that go back to the scatter and click “add guests” and select the entities. Now that the entities are part of your scatter you can manipulate the probability in scaling of each entity. Next, in the appearance manager, under the families tab, click the tab with 4 rectangles. This is where you will assign the scatter to the surfaces. Click the plus sign and press the surface you want the scatter to be on. Once selected, press the circle with a “v” in it and an arrow pointing downwards, and select the scatter you want to apply. Done, now the scatter is applied to the surface. To view it, at the top of the page, in the drop-down next to the house, click the camera. With the camera choose level one and place it in the middle of the river and drag it towards the shoreline. A new view will pop up. To render this view, in the top left-hand corner click current view and select the desired view. Once selected you can now press render production. Depending on your system rendering times can vary. If you have a GPU and you haven't already done so, click settings and change the engine to CUDA or RTX. If the view is not to your liking you can change the eye and target elevation under camera in properties.

I intended to import my bridge into Revit and have the bridge render with the riverbed, however, my computer couldn't handle that many entities. So for me it was mostly a learning experience I learned a lot about rendering and the toll it takes on your computer.

In conclusion, the bridge that I have created serves many purposes. Not only does it bridge social and economic gaps, but it also provides both physical and mental sustenance. It's a center where people can come together and help each other. One of my main goals was to spread awareness about the many problems island nations such as Fiji face. Not many realize that a common resource for them may be a priceless resource for someone else. Opening one's perspective and becoming more aware is instrumental in setting change.

I spent many hours working on this project and am very proud of what I've created. I hope you learned something new from my instructable and the bridge I created. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my instructable. From me (on the right) and the boys, BULA!