ASCE Bridge Designer, Cloud Edition

Frequently Asked Questions

Have additional questions about Bridge Designer? Please reach out to [email protected].

• Who can use this program?

  ASCE Bridge Designer, Cloud Edition is a free platform designed for educators to provide an introduction to bridge design. Students gain hands-on experience in designing steel truss bridges. At the end of construction, have them test their designs by having a simulated truck drives across.

• Is there a cost?

  No! Use Bridge Designer, Cloud Edition freely as much as you like for educational purposes only.

  ASCE Bridge Designer is distributed freely under provisions of the GNU Public License V3.

• How has this version of bridge designer changed compared to past version?

  In this version of Bridge Designer we have added fly-through test visualization, 3d printing support, and more. For details, see "What's new?" in the Help of Bridge Designer.
  

• How is the Cloud Edition related to earlier apps called Bridge Designer, Engineering Encounters Bridge Designer, and West Point Bridge Designer?

  All the older versions were desktop applications for Windows and Mac. Many users have asked for a version to run on Chromebook and other platforms. We answered with Cloud Edition. It's nearly the same so that teacher experience and old lesson plans are still good to go.

• Can Cloud Edition and earlier version bridge files be used interchangeably?

  No. For many reasons, Cloud Edition can't load previous version files and vice versa. This is nothing new. Older versions did not support file exchange either.

• How do local contest codes work?

  Conduct your own contest locally for any set of site conditions you choose. For this, you'll need to select a local contest code and furnish it to all contestants. They enter it on page 2 of the new bridge setup wizard and start designing!

  Codes are always exactly 6 characters. The first 3 are any digits you choose. Bridge Designer doesn't care. For the last 3, use the new bridge setup wizard (with no local contest code) to choose your contest site conditions. Before pressing Finish, look at the wizard's lower right corner. You'll see something like Site conditions: 12A. The three final characters (12A in this example) are the last three of your local contest code. Have fun!

• Why does Cloud Edition ask for save file names often?

  Browsers have security features to prevent intruders from modifying files on your computer via the Internet. One such feature is frequently asking for a file name to verify you know exactly what's being written. This is a good thing, even if it's a bit more trouble.

• Why when I return to Cloud Edition after not using it for a while, it picks up where I left off?

  Cloud Edition periodically stashes all your work in a place called "browser local storage". This means you can reload or close your tab and re-open later without fear. But a few things...

  • Save your work to files! Local storage is cool, but has limits as explained below. Saving to files is still the best way to go.
    
    • It only works for the same device and browser! Local storage is local after all.
    • Changes on our end may affect you. After we fix bugs or make improvements, your next use might start fresh rather than where you left off. It won't be often, but it can happen.
    • Local storage is a bit fragile. It's rare, but there are ways beyond Bridge Designer's control that local storage can fail or be deleted.
  • You can turn it off! If you don't want your work saved in local storage, just uncheck Edit | Remember my work. If you share a user ID with another person on the same computer and want to keep your design secret, this is a way to do it.
  • You can force a reset! If Cloud Edition ever fails to start up, it may be that your local storage was somehow corrupted. Make a fresh start by adding ?reset to the end of the Cloud Edition URL.