Using an angle for bridging

[tiffany.amorgan]

I'm using a l 1/4x1 1/4 angle as my bridging. We want to find a better way to do bridging but this will have to do for this project as it needs to go out ASAP. Anyways as I'm drawing the sloped segment on the end of my bridging it keeps trying to join with the bottom segment. Basically I have two segments of the angle family that keep joining automatically and this is causing problems as I try and make adjustments. I have tried the unjoin geometry command but that doesn't work. Any other ideas on what I should do?

Thanks!!!

[tiffany.amorgan]

Any suggestions on successful easy ways to put bridging in a model?

[david_peterson]

I'm guessing you're talking about bridging for Bar Joist / Joist Girder framing. The interesting thing IMHO is that it never ends up where you show it. Bridging can usually be removed and replaced and taken out and moved. Then again, unless you're actually going to define the panel point and do the actual joist design, they aren't going to be 100% correct either. The problem with modeling these types of systems is that them MEP folks think that's what actually going to be installed. 99% of the time, they are different than what Revit modeled.
As for an easy way to model it, I think you're on the right track. Are you modeling them as a brace element or a beam element? I could see reasons for using both. Beam elements for the horizontal bridging and just make them continuous. Use Brace element is your using diagonal bridging. The last 3 joist projects I worked I simply drew a line and added a note to the drawings defining bridging spacing and type. I guess it all depends on how much effort you want to put in to it.
I guess my main point/thought is that since I've started modeling joist (the switch from cad to revit) we've been asked the same question by every contractor. "So are the joists in the model going to be just like the ones installed?" And the answer is always no. I can't tell you what the shop is going to use for members. I can't tell you what the panel arrangement is going to be. I can't do any of that, unless I do the actual design. And the only thing I'm going to to from that standpoint in today's marketplace is pick one out of the Vulcraft book. Which defines a few things, but they are performance based designs and in the end it depends on the shop you get them from.
Just my 2 cents.