DATA & DIGITAL | TECHNICAL
This standard will be extended to tunnel entities in
the next release, IFC 4.4. In the interim, the technology is readily available for transportation agencies responsible for tunnels to derive value from BIM and, what I might call, Digital Twin ‘light’.
THE CONNECTIVITY QUEST For some, the cost to deploy BIM and Digital Twins may still seem too high – though the cost and complexity of continuing with conventional methods is rising. Most commonly, transportation agencies will send
engineers and surveyors out to inspect these assets—in today’s environment, with labour shortages a common concern around the globe, that’s a time consuming and costly effort. A true Digital Twin, one linked to sensors, can provide the data very quickly. Add in artificial intelligence (AI) and the analysis of that data becomes invaluable. It’s one thing to create 3D data or models for use in an
office environment. It’s a whole other challenge to take this data into the field, either on small data collectors or with the surveying equipment. Until recently, the construction industry really hasn’t had the capability to handle this type of data in a cost-effective, simplified way. That is changing. The field equipment that people use in the tunnels today are becoming much more powerful, allowing project teams to work directly from a model while still in the field. On the Bergünerstein Tunnel project, Donatsch +
Partner AG, relied on a collaboration platform to enable the seamless transmission of data and easy access to the most current design. For example, Donatsch + Partner was responsible for calculating excavation and shotcrete volumes. The team used laser scan data to create profiles for over- and under-excavation analysis that were compared to the 3D model to identify areas that required rework. The cloud process allowed Donatsch workers to check
the results in a timely manner and quickly catch errors or identify gaps. Through this collaboration platform, Donatsch +
Partner was able to connect design revisions and changes to all stakeholders seamlessly and uniformly, and provide enhanced deliverables to the client. The idea is to shape a Digital Twin-like environment, as the model is updated throughout the project providing data accessible to stakeholders to make more informed decisions.
The contractor has developed a platform, and a
model, that will live through the lifecycle of an asset, including maintenance and operations.
IN THE FACE OF CHANGE Whether roads, bridges or tunnels, our infrastructure is continually moving. Climate change is already having a direct effect on the behaviour and lifespan of our infrastructure assets, including tunnels. Tunnel geology is behaving slightly differently than it has in the last 100 years. With a digital twin, we can potentially anticipate movement outside the norm with automatic alarms, for instance. National Highways, the highway transportation agency
responsible for England’s Strategic Road Network (motorways and major A roads) is using a Digital Twin to improve its concrete roads. The mission of the programme is to replace end of design life and design load pavement. The group is using a living Digital Twin of the concrete roads to simulate asset behavior and improve safety and sustainability. Road condition data, including repairs, is regularly updated through a field data collection app provided to contractors. Further embedded sensors in the concrete measure water runoff quantities, temperature, moisture, dew points and CO2
.
With this data, the programme team can analyse the direct effect of external factors, such as climate change, on concrete behaviour that was never possible with previous methods. Live connectivity, such as what National Highways
deploys on concrete roads, is not common. Much of the data gathering is still largely manual where an individual gathers data in the field and returns to the office to process the data and then update the model. The resulting updated model is an early form of
Digital Twin, but not a true ‘living’ model. In the future, data will be gathered and fed into a
Digital Twin in ways we haven’t yet considered, say from cars driving through a tunnel. The value of a Digital Twin transcends the ability to live monitor an asset; it’s a powerful tool that will benefit the lifecycle of tunnel, improving the way an asset is constructed and maintained, reducing the costs that are inherent in our largely disconnected workflows between various project parties, and cutting the time to delivery. That said, while a ‘live’ Digital Twin is the higher goal, along the way the current versions provide enormous benefit to the lifecycle of a tunnel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tor Erik Djupos is a product application engineer at Trimble Geospatial. He is an engineer and
surveyor with more than 30 years of experience in the survey and construction industry, drawing on a background in marine surveying, as well as traditional land surveys and construction-related work. Currently, at Trimble, Tor Erik helps with new product development, defining and enhancing current survey workflows and getting these solutions to market, directly and through Trimble’s distribution channels.
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