Sustainable infrastructure is needed to replace the $41 trillion worth of infrastructure that needs to be replaced or retrofitted around the world.

According to Paul McRoberts , vice president of the Infrastructure Product Line Group AEC Solutions at Autodesk, there is only about $22 trillion available to remedy this situation. How is this to be accomplished?

Autodesk’s Infrastructure Design Suite 2012, Autodesk’s BIM for Infrastructure solution, combines the tools needed to plan, design, build and manage infrastructure. Autodesk Infrastructure Modeler, a new product, represents the expansion of Autodesk’s BIM portfolio and is geared around the idea of being able to leverage existing information such as GIS data and any kind of disparate data: lidar data, raster and photogrammetry; and being able to layer this information in and to create a representation of existing conditions. Infrastructure Modeler can compare conceptual models that can be used for new proposals to help customers and stakeholders understand what the future infrastructure is going to look like.

Detailed models can be imported from AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk Revit, and other software to create an infrastructure model.

Surface data in raster form, road center lines, land use, parcels and building footprints can be used to create an infrastructure model. Raster data or AutoCAD 3D surfaces can be used to create terrain and make the terrains more realistic and informative by tracing aerial photography, site plans or topographic maps on top of them. CAD and GIS data can be used to display 3D representations grown from 3D data both above and below the ground. These different data formats can then be configured to become different feature types such as buildings, trees or roads, and some land coverages.

AutoCAD Map 3D can be implemented during the initial acquisition of existing conditions for planning, and for managing the infrastructure once the project is complete. AutoCAD Civil 3D is used for transportation and land development design and Autodesk Navisworks during the construction phase.  Those not familiar with the design and construction world can access the model and understand the proposed project very early in the design process.