PROJECT MANAGEMENT & BIM
why we do things; how we intelligently procure and instruct the supply chain to do what HS2 Ltd as a client needs, not what others perceive it needs; and how we get people to work more closely together in a more transparent way.
“Digital technologies help with this way of working, but generally, implementing technology solutions is the easy bit. It’s the business change aspect that is challenging.
“We strongly believe that better, more effi cient collaboration, which allows the rapid sharing of accurate, assured information, aided by a robust, integrated technology platform, will reduce a lot of the waste that is found in traditional engineering and construction processes.”
As well as cutting waste, its proponents say BIM will reduce risk too – and with an infrastructure project on the scale of HS2, and with its political, logistical and fi nancial sensitivities, reducing risk is vital.
Kerbey said: “Risk is driven by uncertainty; therefore by using data more intelligently and aligning data requirements to decisions that need to be made, greater understanding at an earlier stage in the project can be achieved.”
He gave examples including clash detection and sequencing and the higher confi dence during the construction phase this brings; the greater certainty in cost because quantity take-offs can come directly from the 3D data; sustainability assessments via direct analysis of embedded carbon; and more understanding of potential health and safety risks even before anyone reaches a work site.
Learning from others
BIM is an established part of infrastructure and construction projects in the UK now. Other major client organisations like Crossrail, Network Rail and TfL also make use of it, including at a project discussed by Keller at the seminar – the Victoria station upgrade. In the government’s Construction Strategy, published in May 2011,
it is stated that
BIM is mandatory for all public sector construction projects over £5m. Early adopter projects include a healthcare facility at Catterick Garrison, HMYOI Cookham Wood, and Waterlooville School. The government’s own target for 2014 is that all departments have published BIM/GSL (government soft landings) strategies, roadmaps and forward pipelines, helping to embed it across Whitehall. By 2015, all government departments should be “100% Level 2 BIM/GSL enabled”, with benefi ts being realised, according to Adam Matthews.
Kerbey told us: “It can be argued that HS2 is the fi rst major infrastructure project in the UK to be implementing BIM at such an early stage in its lifecycle. This does give us the opportunity to learn lessons from others who are further down the path than us and we are working with colleagues from other major programmes like Crossrail, London Tideway Tunnels, and the London 2012 Olympics, all of which are being assessed and incorporated into HS2 Ltd’s way of working.
“Due to the scale of HS2, I believe that we have a duty to be innovative, driving best practice rather than just adopting it. This is not just applicable for technology, but
also to more effi cient processes, better contractual arrangements and commercial agreements, and a more collaborative, transparent culture.”
Another dimension
RTM has reported before on the use of BIM in practice, and tools such as 4D modelling, as used on the Reading railway upgrade (see below). It also opens up technologies like augmented reality, overlaying digital information on real-life scenes using tablets and other mobile devices. Kerbey said: “Integrating time into the 2D or 3D design is an invaluable method of validating a construction schedule, but there are many other uses, from rapidly running what-if scenarios, including onsite vs offsite manufacturing, to providing stakeholders with an understanding of what is going to be constructed, when, where and for how long.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
“The key thing is starting off at the earli- est GRIP stage you possibly can, bearing in mind how quickly you’re going to start receiving designs from contractors.
“The ideal, as we’re trying to set it up here and within Crossrail, is to take away the 3D modelling from this team, and to have all of our 3D work done by our own suppliers, and us co-ordinating the information and turning it into the 4D plan.”
That ideal remains some way off, he ex- plained, due to the lack of specialist in- house design teams adept at using the rail-specific project management and CAD tools at most Network Rail contractors and suppliers.
He explained: “Finding designers who can supply it in the format we need in can be a problem. We work primarily in MicroSta- tion, which is normal for the rail industry, while a lot of the rest of the world’s indus- tries use AutoCAD, and that’s a problem.”
Graphical visualisation
But once the 3D models are available, that’s when the team’s work really begins, as each element is linked to the main data- base and project plan.
Malone said: “Linking the graphics to the plan is a manual process to begin with, but as the programme changes, the line items will remain the same, so any changes to the plan will be reflected in it.
The Reading upgrade project is further proving the use of 4D modelling as a project management tool across multiple disciplines, and showing how augmented reality might soon be used to revolutionise rail engineering and construction. RTM’s Adam Hewitt spent some time with the Engineering Data Management Team at Reading to find out more, and heard from head of the team, Fergal Malone.
4D
modelling and its applica- tions to project manage- ment have come on enor- mously since its first de- ployments in the 1990s on
the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project and latterly on the WCML upgrade.
Teams are now in place on the Reading sta- tion and track upgrade, on Crossrail, and on Thameslink, making use of the latest technology to truly change how engineers and construction workers do their jobs.
Fergal Malone, Engineering Data Manager at the Reading upgrade since May 2010, and a veteran of the CTRL and WCML implementations, told RTM
that the
potential uses of the tool are “mind- blowing”, but notes that for engineers and
28 | rail technology magazine Feb/Mar 12
4D has gradually come to be used as a catch-all shorthand for all sorts of
construction teams, the “wow factor” in seeing a project come to life in stages on screen is not enough.
He said: “The wow quickly fades unless it’s got functionality that lets you see exactly how it’s going to help.”
But the team has plenty of examples of how they can help – including on site ac- cess, possession requirements, isolation requirements, highways access, protection arrangements, health and safety arrange- ments, risk management and environmen- tal considerations to name just some.
What is 4D modelling?
modelling which should more accurately be described as 2D or 3D. The fourth dimension, of course, is time – meaning a project can be planned, tracked and then evaluated in detailed stages, simulated graphically day-by-day or hour-by-hour, and potential clashes can be detected early, both in terms of clashes between different designs relating to the same project, and how contractors may physically clash on- site at particular times.
Being able to actually see what will be where and when, represented as a graphi- cal simulation, is a great tool to do this.
Malone explained: “At a high level, the pur- pose of 4D is to tie graphical information into the project plan. That’s the traditional overview, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg.
“The entire Reading project – the station, tracks, depot, viaduct – can all be seen on one model, at any geographical point and any point in time.
“There are individual models for each major
section too, simply because of the sheer vol- ume of graphical information we’re working with, but we have a file taking all of those 4D models and putting them into one.”
When the 4D process was used on previ- ous projects, like CTRL and the WCML up- grade, not everyone working in construc- tion saw the point, Malone said.
He explained: “A lot of it was derived from people having too high expectations. We need people to think about what they need it for. The wow factor fades, as I’ve said; ‘I’ve seen what it does, how the project’s going to develop over time, but how has that helped?’
“That’s what we’re now doing here, looking at it not just from an engineering point of view, but from a construction point of view. The guy on the ground knows how to put a track in place, so why does he need to see it animated? We want to concentrate on the things that are most useful for him.
“Now, having seen it working almost from the very beginning here, the people who have gone through those earlier projects have come almost to expect it to be in place, so we’ve seen a change in attitude, and it’s become integral.”
The models can also be made available to contractors through careful use of permis- sions, and in many different formats, since not all of them would have the right sort of software to view it normally.
Malone said: “It’s all tightly controlled.”
He said that although 4D modelling is cur- rently only used on the biggest construc- tion projects, that could change: “I don’t see why this technology and software can’t
Below: The 4D schedule simulation model of the Reading project
be used elsewhere. I
The 4D model can visualisations of p generic terms for th at construction work
He said: “You can going to be working, need to use, everythin
The fifth dimensio
4D is not the final sta modelling software ment, with a lot of the 5D. The fifth ‘dimens really a dimension at with quantity measure fications.
Malone said: “There between what we do a to quantify everything we’re doing everything everything in its correc in the model, so we quantities we’re using volumes very quickly. the estimating team w them all of the quantit happening now: it’s cal information modelling
“With that in mind, w ground modelling instance, we’ve got the v Reading; we’ve got to lo we can calculate how mu removed to do that. Sim means moving huge am
Data and visualisat management
All sorts of issues relev construction projects ha data team’s scope: from to flood management, a to planning application they have aspirations to things like radio covera tabling.
The team produces count animations and safety vid all of the files and 3D d sometimes outsourcing it
But the team is involved in co-ordination and revie basis. Malone said: “We engineering and constru all of the contractors, designs, make sure they engaged in the constructa
rail technology magazin
“4D models provide a much more real and understandable
of the
provide a much more real and view
construction Contined overleaf >
Images courtesy Network Rail
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