Bridge Approaches

[Jedimarine 119]

So one thing I really dislike about my cities are the bridges...the steep 1-3 tile approaches...but whenever I try to extend the approaches to a more gradual climb, it ruins any nearby intersections or building faces.

I've also tried the approach of having high ground right along the water to be crossed, only the have the bridge "dip" right at the shoreline down to it's "default" crossing height, and when you try to raise it, it jumps right passed "level" with the road surface and creates that 1-3 tile approach.

does anyone have any tricks for making a nice gradual or level bridge...anyone know how the games determines bridge elevation rules for those approaches?

pictures would be helpful.

Thank you.

[tungston 19]

I have not found an easy way to get the slope.  Sometimes I will use a slope mod, but you will still have the one tile on both sides for the slope to grade.

[diva613 0]

when i am terraforming i tend to make steep cliffs around river areas by using steep valley function. Than I run my bridges across. I am going to be doing an update in my CJ (linked below) so you can see acouple if you want.

[Muck308 55]

I find what works best is simply patience and time. I will try to space the slope out over about 6 or 7 tiles. I get it as close to smooth as possible with some rough elevation changes, then I run a road up the slope. (note; if you are doing a slope for a two lane road... you only have to get one string of tiles the way you want. Run a road up it, and then run a road up the adjacent string of tiles and it will match automatically.) If the slope needs to be tweaked I usually zoom in as far as I can go, and hold ctrl while I have the either the raise or lower terrain option on (mayor not god). It takes a little bit, and you will likely have to re-level the land around the slope afterward, but it is well worth the work. If you want I could post some pics of that work in action...

Edit; oh, and I suppose I should mention that I have the Bridge Height Mod. Are you using that mod?

[cavs3265 3]

Here i found a mod that seems to be the only way aroind this problem. It removes the need for a big slope and makes the bridge level to the ground.

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=21327

- I hope this helps you.

[Zelgadis 638]

I tend to use expressways, since they have a lower grade. It costs a lot of money, but I first build an expressway bridge complete with ramps, demolish it, and replace it with the avenue bridge. For roads and streets, I build a monorail bridge first before the road or street.

ISF

[Jezus53 18]

I use a slope mod to keep the slope even and a bridge height mod to reduce the height. The height mod is great because you can make level bridges which is very realistic in urban areas like Chicago. Another tip is to use a highway to make the slope less...intense for lack of a better term. Just delete the highway then build the bridge! Though, it does take time to get used to, so don't get too frustrated with it.

[Legosim 14]

I do it the hard way lol by building the bridge, destroy it, edit the land using lower terrain and level terrain and rebuild, i like craftsmanship

[Jezus53 18]

Originally posted by: Legosim

I do it the hard way lol by building the bridge, destroy it, edit the land using lower terrain and level terrain and rebuild, i like craftsmanship quote>

Uhg, I remembrer those day. So tedious.

[Jedimarine 119]

Good Feedback so far.

The "freeway" before 2 lane idea has merit...does stretch it out a bit.

I have the bridge level mod in my "broken plugs" folder...which means it didn't work for me for some reason...cannot recall why...though if it works, it probably would operate in conjunction with my raised area near water (basically I go to "god" terraform and make all but the select locations for beaches and ports much higher near water.)

If there were an easy way to run the bridge...see the height it asked for, and level off the back end of the approach, I'd probably do that...but leveling tricks will always drop the desired level a little bit.

The curse of SC4's imprecise terraforming tools!

I guess I have another question sort of related...viaducts? What are the games rules for them...because the few I've ever been able to install were perfectly level!

[Owaen 5]

Here is my 2 cents.

To make nice bridges i make sure the land on both sides are the same height. (A)

That I do by using the God mode level tool across the water, then lover the terrain agin to form the waterway.

I lower the outmost edge a bit to fit the seawall I would like to use. (B)

Then I raise a portion of land on both sides with landraiser tool 15 meters. ©

And then its just to drag selected network over water.

To get the slopes down to "base" level (A), I use "ENN_SlopeMod_Mount620.dat"

Decorate with prefered seawalls/concrete walls.

Appologies for poor image editing, I only have Paint to work with.

(Click image for full resolution 1680x1050)

[SC4BOY 20]

The bridge hieght mod (or bridge level mod as some want to call it) works fine.. and it's been in use for at least 5 years.. its the single most valuable bridge-related mod in SC4.. I too used to do it by building, destroying, tedius terrain work, rebuild a nice bridge.. In 90% or more of the cases now I just draw a bridge.. If the two sides have significantly different altitudes, you will have problems. Why? Its simple.. bridges WILL NOT SLOPE.. so you have to match the ends...

[Spinmaster 75]

Originally posted by: cavs3265

Here i found a mod that seems to be the only way aroind this problem. It removes the need for a big slope and makes the bridge level to the ground.

https://www.simtropolis.com/stex/details.cfm?id=21327

- I hope this helps you.quote>

Bingo - this is the only tool for this purpose! A slope mod as others pointed out is also highly recommended.

Tip: always start with a road bridge, regardless of what actual network you're trying to build a bridge for in the end. The road seems much less picky about the land, and raising the bridge up high... very high, if that's what you're after. The other networks often complain about trying to smooth the terrain. Note that even with the bridge height mod, one side of the river/lake/whatever is most likely going to be higher than the other, even if it's so slight your eyes can't see it - so one end must be raised up by the game, mod or no mod, so the bridge is level.

What I do is build a road bridge as above, but literally just the bridge - i.e. not connected to any network, and not extended any more than one or two tiles beyond either end of the bridge. The ends of the bridge become "anchors" - for the single-road-tile leveling trick. Plop a few single-tile road pieces around the end. If you're shooting for a 2-tile-wide bridge for avenue or highway, then plop one next to each end of the bridge. Also, plop some going away from the ends, to level an extra tile or two away from it.

Now... destroy that road bridge (even if a road bridge is what you eventually want anyway). Take care to not demolish the road tiles you'd plopped for leveling purposes. Those now-empty tiles where the ends of the bridge were? (They might be flat, they might not be). Plop another tile on each end, right there, to finish leveling the "top" of the approaches. Now you have nice, level pillars at either end, at exactly the same height. This is where the bridge height mod works - when you build your real bridge between those pillars (not yet!!), neither end will move. It doesn't have to - but without that bridge height mod, the game would still try to "think" for you and end up moving the land.

Now... keeping those last road tiles as anchors, and maybe a few others (if you want the approach to stay flat at the top for a few meters before it starts sloping down), put the slope mod to use - drawing a rail (or two if you're working on an avenue or highway bridge) from the top of the approach - right next to those top anchor tiles - to where you want it to end. Take care to not involve those anchoring road tiles, just start your "slope-drawing" adjacent to them. Note you may have to use a different network other than rail for this - each network has a different degree of smoothing, rail usually being the smoothest, but it also means the longest ramp down (and cars can handle a steeper grade than trains). Do this on both ends of your bridge-to-be.

Now... you can destroy those last "anchor" tiles at the very end of the very top of the approaches... and draw your "real" bridge there, and finish up by drawing the network out from either end of your new, did-it-yourself bridge.

Smooth as... well, ok it's pretty tedious actually. But the results are worth every minute of work.

Optional: you may want to surround the approach ramps with retaining walls, if you see they're particularly steep cliffs/rock faces. You can't put anything under the bridge, but there are some wall sets that include special pieces that visually "wrap" around the edge.