Bentley’s Be Inspired Awards Finalists Offer Real-World Solutions and Fantasy Flight in the BIM Advancements in Construction Category

Each year Bentley Systems holds its thought-leadership event known as The Year in Infrastructure Conference, and this year, for the first time, it will be held in Asia at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The event highlights the company’s prestigious Be Inspired Awards, where finalists in 17 categories present their most innovative projects of the past year, and describe how, using Bentley applications, they were able to solve real-world challenges. The winners will be announced at a special ceremony and gala on Oct. 12.

JMC2 Heaven Sent, Simi Valley, California

While I’m looking forward to hearing about all the finalists in all categories, here we will look at the Be Inspired Awards finalists in the BIM Advancements in Construction category.

JMC2 – Heaven Sent – Simi Valley, California, United States

What does a daredevil skydiver have to do with Bentley software and construction?

Luke Aikins leapt from a plane at 25,000 feet without a parachute or wingsuit, and reached terminal velocity of 120 miles per hour before dropping safely into a 10,000-square-foot net outside Simi Valley, California, setting a Guinness World Record. Sponsored by Stride gum, this USD 8 million stunt, dubbed “Heaven Sent,” tested the mettle of Bentley software for JMC2 Civil Engineering + Surveying who conceptualized the fall, designed the lifesaving “trap,” and oversaw construction.

While an unusual use of Bentley applications, JMC2 managed the various stages of the fall and building of the trap, using “optioneering” to produce various schemes for plans for a trap comprised of nets, air pistons, cables, cranes, and guidance lights. Regulatory restrictions were managed using PowerCivil and MicroStation for 3D modeling, site layout, schematics, and detailed drawings. With creative application of these resources, JMC2 managed to save the sponsor nearly USD 1 million in design and construction costs.

Wouldn’t it have been great if Evel Knievel had such a support team?

Project Playbook: MicroStation, PowerCivil

Leighton Asia – Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

Leighton Asia – Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge – (Hong Kong)

This challenging project involves the construction of a 50-kilometer bridge to link Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao, contracted by the Highways Department, Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This bridge will allow vehicles to enter and leave Hong Kong through boundary crossing facilities on a 130-hectare reclaimed island, by also crossing a series of bridges and tunnels. Leighton Asia is charged with designing and building this ambitious USD 4.6 billion project, which includes a 40,000-square-meter passenger clearance building and associated works.

Bentley’s BIM methodology was used as the common platform for identifying and correcting construction problems, and helped the project team solve clashes before construction, which resulted in a 12 percent savings of the construction budget. Moreover, using the technology to compare 3D design models to point cloud models to avoid onsite errors saved the project team 15 percent of the survey budget.

Project Playbook: AECOsim Building Designer, Bentley LumenRT, ContextCapture, Bentley Descartes, MicroStation, Bentley Navigator, OpenRoads, ProjectWise

China Construction Sixth Engineering Division, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin Tianhe-Cloud Building Engineering Technology Co., Ltd – Sanya New Airport Reclamation Project – Sanya, Hainan, China

China Construction Sixth Engineering Division, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin Tianhe-Cloud Building Engineering Technology Co., Ltd – Sanya New Airport Reclamation Project – Sanya, Hainan, China

Simulation is taking on a greater role in more ambitious construction projects these days. One example is this new USD 5 billion airport project in Sanya, Hainan, China. The project is being built on an artificial island created by reclaiming land from Hongtang Bay. Developed by an HNA Group Co., Ltd. subsidiary, and spanning 28-square-kilometers, the project includes an airport operation zone, international trade zone, and support services zone. The entire project employed point cloud data acquired from simple photographs taken by a camera mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles. From that data, a high-resolution, real-time reality mesh was created in ContextCapture to track the construction process.

A wide portfolio of Bentley products was used for this undertaking, including managing 3D information models using ProjectWise, and SACS and MOSES for those areas specific to the artificial island and maritime conditions.

Project Playbook: AssetWise, AXSYS, Bentley Descartes, Bentley LumenRT, ContextCapture, MicroStation, MOSES, OpenBridge, OpenRoads, ProjectWise, SACS

Clearly the projects present some exciting challenges to the teams. I look forward to seeing how they managed juggling different software solutions and applications, and how they solved some of the most seemingly unsolvable problems in the industry.

Tags: AEC, architects, Bentley Systems, BIM, building design, building information modeling, CAD, collaboration, construction, design, engineering, generative design, infrastructure, Year in Infrastructure 2017, YII2017

Categories: 2D, 3D, AEC, AECCafe, architecture, Bentley Systems, BIM, building information modeling, civil information modeling, construction, engineering, field, field solutions, file sharing, lidar, simulation, site planning, terrain, traffic simulation, visualization, YII 2017

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