The geumga grand bridge design using the creative problem solving technique

When designing bridges there are codes which an engineer must follow. Often times these codes function as mere guidelines due to numerous variables that arise per site conditions restrictions and regulations. In such cases engineer's professional experience and judgment become a crucial tool in the design. Using the Creative Problem Solving Technique or CPST can help improve and refine various solutions or decisions that one must generate in bridge designing. CPST is composed of five fundamental steps; Defining the problem Creating potential solutions Evaluation of the potential solutions Selection of the best fit solution and Execution of the selected solution. CPST can be applied to the field of bridge engineering with respect to a number of issues. Such issues include decisions regarding site-specific conditions solutions to the owner's requests and decisions regarding the aesthetic aspects and the structural efficiency of the bridge. Once the problem has been defined all possible solutions should be brainstormed. When selecting the best solution among the brainstormed alternatives the feasibility of construction and structural calculation results must be taken into account. The execution of the best solution constitutes to producing detailed design drawings. The seven-span 795m long Geumga Grand Bridge is located in the city of Chungju on a water-front near the historically significant castle known as the "Tan-Geum-Dae," associated with the twelve-stringed Korean harp called the Gayageum. Applying the CPST in the design of the Geumga Grand Bridge the shape of the extradosed bridge has been designed with an oval shaped cross sectional deck with twelve strands of cable connected to the main tower in an effort to symbolize the shape of the Gayageum. The shape of the main tower is curved and slender replicating the shape of two hands holding the instrument.