Heavy BIM Special Report

An emerging area of practice is finding an audience

By Stephen Jones. Senior Director, Business Development, McGraw-Hill Construction

Interior bay with animated equipment models that simulate operation.

A common misperception about BIM is that it’s just for designing and constructing buildings. “People shouldn’t look at the word ‘building’ in BIM as an actual building, but as the verb ‘to build,’” says Jay Mezher, design visualization manager for Parsons Brinckerhoff in Seattle. “It’s not limited to vertical structures. You can model and analyze as many issues in horizontal projects as you can in buildings.”

An increasing number of engineers and builders in the industrial, infrastructure and civil disciplines are finding valuable applications for model-enabled processes on nonbuilding projects, paving the way toward a range of new opportunities. This emerging area of practice is what we call “Heavy BIM.”

This Special Section on Heavy BIM explores how teams are employing a variety of virtual design and construction techniques to improve outcomes for community outreach, optimized planning, improved constructability, sustainability goals and simulated operations of complex projects.

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Civil BIM

Research for the recently published McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report entitled “The Business Value of BIM” shows that civil engineers lag behind other engineering disciplines in their adoption of BIM. More than 80% of civil engineers are still not using BIM today. However, those who are using it are forecasting dramatic increase in usage.

Today, only 10% of the civil engineers who are utilizing BIM can be characterized as what we call “very heavy users,” meaning they are using it on more than 60% of their projects. But when all the civil engineers now using BIM were asked to predict their level of usage in two years, 40% said they will be at the very heavy user level within that time frame.

PB began using virtual design and construction at the Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement project in Seattle in 2004 and has seen its application evolve over time. The project aims to replace the existing Alaskan Way Viaduct, a critical elevated highway that was damaged by an earthquake in 2001.

Initially, PB’s efforts were focused on project visualization for public outreach. The team modeled two options—an elevated structure and a tunnel—creating a five-minute video that would allow the public to visualize driving through the proposed alignments. In addition to modeling the structures themselves, the surrounding existing buildings were created in 3D. To improve the sense of virtual reality, cars, trees and people were added to the animations.

Structural model of Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In addition to traffic simulations, the models also played a critical role in supporting environmental impact studies, showing pedestrian views of the project. The team blended actual photos with the 3D model to create a more realistic sense of place.

“We were beginning to build the entire city in 3D,” Mezher says. “Since it’s an urban-scale project, we had GIS data that we could use; we had the footprints of the buildings; and we had the building heights. It was all a very accurate representation.”

As the database of project-related information began to grow, other tasks emerged. To help show the potential impact on the local community, PB created visual simulations of construction phasing.

Data from multiple traffic studies was added to the model so viewers could accurately visualize the impact that construction might have on traffic. An interactive Web tool was created to help show traffic during each construction phase and at different times of the day.

Although the two original alignments were rejected, the database was available for use on 10 new options that were created. Among the alternatives was a deep-bore tunnel that required modelers to add in all of the basements of surrounding buildings as well as existing railroad, sewer and utility tunnels. At this point, the team’s modeling tasks began to transition from a tool to help with public presentations to one that could guide design decisions.

The Walsh Group identified $150,000 in system clashes at a water treatment plant near Phoenix.

“We already had this database and these models to pick and choose from,” Mezher adds. “We could not only show what the options were, but during the design process they started asking us to model every single option and compare them from different camera angles. Ultimately, we helped the design team make more informed decisions about where the best potential alignments would be.”

In April, the deep-bore tunnel option was approved, and PB has continued to leverage its models for design purposes. Accurate daylighting studies have been drawn from the models, combining the geo-referenced coordinates with exact daylighting at different times of the day or year.

At the south end of the tunnel, the model was linked with a 100-activity schedule to generate a 4D model that simulates construction sequencing. “We’ve been able to move into an integrated approach,” Mezher says. “We call it a CAVE—computer analysis visual environment. We bring in key stakeholders to one joint meeting, open up the 3D model and work through any issues. We’ve been able to answer 85% of all questions on the spot.”

Mezher expects the model to continue to bring value as the 10-year construction project moves ahead. “The idea is to pass this on for construction purposes and even operations and maintenance,” he adds. “Once you have these built, if you keep them updated the uses could carry on well past design.”

Throughout the transportation sectors, owners are beginning to take notice. Cosima Crawford, chief engineer for the New York City Transit Authority, predicted in an Aug. 2 article in Engineering News-Record that, “in 10 years, we will be living in a BIM world. It’s our new reality.”

In New York, that reality is becoming clear. The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority used virtual design and construction on the $1-billion Fulton Street Transit Center and the $4.5-billion Phase One Second Avenue Subway project, particularly for visualizations and time sequencing.

Utilities BIM

Some firms doing major utility infrastructure work are seeing BIM bring value. The Walsh Group of Chicago is banking on BIM for its wastewater treatment plant projects, particularly for its conflict resolution capabilities. “Just like in vertical buildings, we see it as a way to reduce errors,” says Dan Klancnik, virtual design and construction manager at the Walsh Group in Chicago. “Conflicts tend to be much more expensive in treatment plants and heavy construction than in commercial work, so the benefits are easily realized.”

Given that commitment, the company is using BIM even when others on a project are not. Archer Western of Atlanta, a subsidiary of Walsh, used BIM on the $76-million Central Arizona Project water treatment plant expansion, building models from 2D drawings created by the project engineers. Klancnik says the company spent $40,000 to create the models, but identified more than $150,000 in system clashes. Requests for information were also reduced by an estimated 75%, with zero change orders. Klancnik says that the 12 people who worked on the model during preconstruction saved the work of dozens in the field later, helping shave the 28-month schedule by five weeks.

Industrial BIM

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Natinal Nuclear Security Administration processes nuclear and high-explosive materials at its Pantex complex in Amarillo, Texas. CH2M-Hill is providing full design services for a new $100 million, 45,000-sq-ft high-explosives pressing facility there.

Unique project features include multilayered, blast-resistant concrete architecture; extensive process piping; sophisticated operating equipment; and eight separate electrical and control systems.

When conventional CAD construction documents were 95% complete, the project went on hold for funding and scope review.

Although DOE had little experience with BIM, Pantex project engineer Stephen Forman says he was inspired by lessons learned from other DOE projects where problems could have been prevented using BIM. Taking advantage of this hiatus, Forman modified CH2MHill’s contract, giving it four months to convert the CAD design into BIM.

David Fouché, senior technologist for CH2M-Hill, says he was eager for this opportunity. “This is a great case for ‘It’s never too late’” he adds.

To optimize spatial coordination in this systems-intensive facility the team decided to model everything down to .75-in conduits. Team members also modeled every piece of equipment, including cranes and robotics that could be animated to demonstrate their operation. Forman wanted to be able to “see everything” so his team could understand critical interfaces between structure, systems and operating equipment

The modeling proved highly valuable. Clash-detection software identified thousands of collisions, but, more importantly, virtually “walking through” every room with the operations staff, the software uncovered more than 500 serious problems.

In one case, “the user wouldn’t be able to function because the crane would get in the way,” Forman recalls.

As a result, the cranes were redesigned to work properly. Independent cost estimators calculated a $10-million savings generated by the modeling effort. “You’re building a V-8 engine inside a building, so it’s worth it to get it right,” Fouché says.

DOE’s Forman is particularly enthusiastic about BIM enabling better constructability. “All the wiring is in conduit,” he says. “It’s easy just to say ‘field route that,’ but how do you know it’s even possible? With BIM we know. In fact we developed new pipe supports for the conduit to ensure it.” And quantities extracted from the model are “almost exactly” what the independent estimators found doing traditional takeoffs.

DOE expects the project will take three to four years to construct. Forman is exploring ways to use the model to reduce construction time and is also planning to use it to train employees at the facility virtually before occupancy, taking months out of the traditional startup phase. An experienced BIM implementer, Fouché has high praise overall for DOE’s use of BIM on this project, saying the agency “really knows why they want to use it, in the places it makes an impact. It’s all about knowing your building better.”

Contractor Adoption of Heavy BIM

Deep-bore tunnel model of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, Seattle.

A number of major contractors are adopting BIM as a company-wide approach across many of their heavy project types. For example, Sundt Construction, which is headquartered in Tempe, Ariz., is taking this type of horizontal view of BIM. Dan Russell, simulated construction manager at Sundt, says the company has seen success in wastewater treatment plants and now is exploring it on highway and transit projects. Russell says Sundt is approaching underground utility modeling the same way it would approach building systems, using it to identify potentially costly clashes.

“The idea came from a light-rail job we worked on,” he says. “The as-built information said certain utilities were in certain locations, but we hit a gas line. We went back to the design team and told them the as-builts weren’t right and we stopped working.

“They came back with new information and the first time we stuck a bucket in the dirt, we hit a line again. That’s when we realized we needed to be modeling this just like in the building world. If we can use it to avoid issues in buildings, we can use it to help avoid hitting things like gas lines and fiber-optic cables that cost a lot of time and money.”

Russell says the next goal is getting the models tied into the company’s survey equipment and GPS-guided heavy equipment to help with tasks such as layout. “At first the uses of BIM in civil aren’t obvious, but once you see them, you can get just as much benefit in the heavy civil world as in the building world,” he says.

Resources

Video: BIM Holds Up to NYCTA Standards
http://construction.com/video/?fr_story=561a9e61f88c4993cc8cafd14d98fd0257119e4e&rf=bm

Digital-Modeling Veterans Want Data for Life Cycles
http://enr.ecnext.com/coms2/article_tect090805DigitalModel-1

Bending BIM to Design Utilities Breaks New Ground
http://enr.ecnext.com/coms2/article_tebm090805BIMDesignUti