Although most users of Multiframe use the suite of programs for preliminary and detailed structural design, there are also a large number of construction companies using Multiframe for design and investigation of construction procedures and temporary site works. Peter Hawkins of Hawkins Engineering is a consultant specializing in construction methods using the principles of "Value Engineering" to help his clients deliver maximum customer benefit for least cost.

Over the past 4 years, Peter has used Multiframe on a wide range of construction projects including investigations into launching techniques for incrementally launched bridges, complex temporary works for large scale concrete projects, and numerous other projects. Peter's projects have taken him throughout the South East Asian region including Laos, Vietnam and throughout Australia. His laptop and Multiframe travel with him at all times and form a core part of his mobile office. Email transfer of Multiframe and other files to the various design and construction offices in the project, ensures he can quickly react to the short deadlines typical of the construction industry.

Typical of Hawkins work was the formwork for the construction of four huge offshore towers constructed in Western Australia for the Wandoo project. These towers formed the basis of the Concrete Gravity Substructure (CGS) and were built in a casting basin 12 meters below sea level to facilitate flotation of the CGS when construction was complete. A total of 28,000 cubic meters of concrete, 8,500 tons of reinforcing steel and 550 tons of prestressing strand was used in constructing the CGS. Multiframe was used to investigate a range of supporting structures including the "spiders" circling each tower and supporting the formwork as the pour progressed.

Peter finds that most of his temporary structures tend to be deflection rather than strength limited, so Multiframe is an ideal tool to do quick member sizing, deflection checks and investigate bracing and support alternatives. The graphical tools for rapid manual iteration help him in this process. Once an appropriate solution has been developed, the graphical printouts from Multiframe are quickly marked up and included in design reports. As an interesting note, like many of our users, Hawkins Engineering have now moved away from traditional large format drawings to smaller A3 (11"x17") size drawings for construction purposes.

Hawkins Engineering's most recent project is a part of the duplication of the Narrows Bridge in Perth, Western Australia. The key issues investigated on this project are the likely loads on the trolleys and other supporting structures used to incrementally launch the bridge across the Swan River. With reaction loads as high as 3000 kN (200 kips), correct assessment of likely behaviour is critical to ensure a safe and trouble free jacking process. One of the Multiframe models used is pictured above - this structure models multiple phases of the launch process in a single design to determine reactions and deflections during various stages of the launch.