As new projects and industry players increasingly adopt the new generation of design tools, the BIM solution from Vianova is about to set the technical BIM for infrastructure standard in the Nordic countries.

The locomotives lead

It is the "locomotives" of the industry that exemplary take charge in implementing BIM in practice. The road and rail authorities, plus leading consultancies and contractors, are now fully committed to BIM, helping to set the standard at an accelerating pace.

All new major road and rail projects in Norway for example are now being planned and built with 3D modelling and BIM methodology – projects that all are experiencing great benefits by the use of BIM – projects such as E6-Dovrebanen, E16, E18, E39, the Follo Line and the Oslofjord connection, plus a host of others.

Vianova's new tools Novapoint and Quadri are the ones generally used in the detailed planning of the new infrastructure projects. The tools have rapidly gained market confidence and recognition, despite some infancy problems in the beginning – not unusual for new software.

Considerable benefits

Effective multidiscipline modelling and collaboration is the key to the success. The collaboration is achieved through the use of Quadri, Vianova's Cloud-based solution for model collaboration and QA. The multidiscipline modelling is done in Novapoint. The result is a significant increase in efficiency and quality of the projects – an improvement that especially the road and rail authorities, and other builders, know to appreciate.

COWI is one of the large consultancies that have experienced Vianova's new BIM tools in practice. Their detailed design of a new 30 km E16 road stretch outside Kongsvinger in southeast Norway, is done with these BIM tools.

“Despite some initial challenges we see big advantages in the BIM solution”, comments Gjermund Dahl, COWI´s BIM coordinator. “We have learned even more about model collaboration, which is a big bonus when using such tools. Collaboration is always a code that must be cracked in order to solve large-scale projects. The ability to see the other disciplines in the same model is a great strength.”

“The collaboration also provides greater confidence in the product we design. We see things multidisciplinary and can weed out obvious errors and deficiencies early on. All in all, we save time”, says Gjermund Dahl.

Better deliveries 

“In fact Novapoint and Quadri make us feel more confident about our deliveries”, adds Stefan Wallin at the EQC Group, a Swedish consulting company that also has experienced the tools in real projects.

“In the model we immediately see if everything is correct, which in turn contributes to quality assurance and good governance. It is much easier to see what you do in 3D and see the consequences. Errors and conflicts are much easier to uncover. And it saves you time by reducing the number of factors in quality control.”

“All in all, the modelling gives you a sense of control. That´s super. In short we feel more confident that the product we deliver is correct”, insists Stefan Wallin.

Terribly easily 

However, it's not just the big players who may benefit from BIM models. A small consulting company that "converted" early on, is Ing. Jørleif Lian AS in Overhalla, Norway.

“Going from traditional Novapoint 18 to Novapoint was not only easy, it quickly turned out to be very beneficial, both for us and for the client”, says man. dir. Jørleif Lian. “Not only is Novapoint much more fun to work with, the visual 3D functionality gives you full control and improved quality of the design.”

“When it was time to try Novapoint in a real project, it did not take me long to learn the tool. But it is crucial to have a structured setup to get started correctly. I think it's terribly easy now”, says Lian.

The model as decision support

“The biggest difference we have learned is that we now in 3D much better see what we are doing”, says Christer B. Andersson. He is a road design engineer at Sweco Sweden who has designed a new E10 road stretch outside the north-Swedish town Kiruna with the new tools.

“We can now at any time present our design and show how the project looks like”, he continues. “If there is any uncertainty about something, this can easily be seen in the model and be understood by all, discussed and easily changed if necessary. It provides a completely different visualization effect, which we now automatically have in Novapoint.

“By visualizing the model in project meetings, we may for example drive the road digitally on a big screen. That way it is easier for everyone to see the whole context and to make the right decisions.”

"Concurrent BIM" next? 

When the modelling and collaboration is done á la "Concurrent Engineering", the result is even more interesting. The concurrent methodology enhances the benefits of BIM even further.

The “extreme design" of an E39 section during this year's Novapoint User Meeting was very promising in this respect. There, at the conference 14 engineers located in the same room collaborated and modelled a 20 km road stretch using Novapoint and Quadri – in just 7 hours!

“If we had used one day more we could have had the zoning plan almost complete”, concluded Jan Erik Hoel who was Vianova's primus motor for the “extreme project”.

Any way: Concurrent or not – BIM is undoubtedly here to stay also in the infrastructure industry. And it is real and working! All consultancies and contractors who aim to compete for infrastructure projects going forward, must master BIM.

Used properly it will save projects, builders and society considerable planning time, hassle and cost – both as unique decision support in the early stage, and as effective tools in the detailed planning.