In May 2018 the ICE (Institute of Civil Engineers) published an information sheet on BIM and its applications and benefits in the civil sector. A year later, the use of BIM by consulting civil engineers was still only on a minority of projects. BIM (US site) is the foundation for digital transformation in the civil engineering industry.

For civil engineers, The BIM process incorporates all design disciplines and creates a complete, intelligent model of the infrastructure project. BIM is used by civil engineers working with architects or structural engineers. But, when designing highways or more complex structures, BIM is new and often not used. But it is highly relevant now and will continue to grow in importance.

BIM is not just about 3D drawings, although that is part of it. As far back as 2014 Civil and Structural Engineer (C&SE) pointed out that “BIM allows engineers more easily to predict the performance of projects before they are built; respond to design changes faster; optimize designs with analysis, simulation, and visualization; and deliver higher quality construction documentation. Furthermore, it enables extended teams to extract valuable data from the model to facilitate earlier decision-making and more economical project delivery.”

Earlier 2D drafting-centric design processes which C&SE described as “siloed” begin with preliminary design, move to more detailed design, and then finally create construction documentation.

Each step is completed before the next one begins, and collaboration with other participants is limited.

The requirement for design changes can easily lead to time-consuming and error-prone manual drafting changes, limiting its effectiveness in communicating the latest iteration of the project design.

Contrast this approach with the use of BIM, now common elsewhere in the AEC industry, the BIM process for road design starts by creating coordinated, reliable design information about the project.

The highway profile needs adjustments to a vertical curve and the grades. By adjusting the profile, all the related design elements update automatically, allowing the designer instantly to see the impact of cut and fill and right-of-way.

While 3D modeling for highway design is not new BIM takes this beyond traditional drafting-centric approaches, which can be a quite disconnected process to join up the design of the physical highway structure with constructability, particularly road safety.

Safe stopping and passing sight distance analysis is another aspect that often takes place in isolation, meaning that the impact of design changes on grades, curvature, and visual obstructions such as barriers, berms, and foliage may not be immediately apparent.

With BIM the effect on the road user of these design amendments is obvious straight away.

Driving Vision’s process is the ideal introduction to BIM for the Civil Engineer, and other disciplines who have yet to become fully conversant with it. The Driving Vision process is ensuring you have the best technology available to meet the needs of your practice, and the knowledge to understand how best to apply it. Get in touch to learn more about how Driving Vision can support your BIM project processes.

Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now