Software Ri 1112

S
ustaining infrastructure is now a world priority. We need high

performance infrastructure that can meet the demands of a
global population while preserving a vital and healthy environment
for generations to come.
Bentleys mission is to provide the software and services that
support the enterprises and professionals who design, build, and
operate the worlds infrastructuresustaining the global economy
and environment, for improved quality of life.
Find out more at www.bentley.com/STI
2011 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley and the B Bentley logo are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned
subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Bentley is Sustaining Infrastructure
Projects shown here include works by Bentley users Arup, Buro Happold, Foster + Partners, HDR, Laboratorio de Engenharia e Consultoria, Land Transport Authority, Populus, and T. Y. Lin.
5
Software for Road Infrastructure 3
CONTENTS
Editor
Mike Woof
Email: wheditor@ropl.com
Contributing Editor
Adrian Greeman
Sales Director
Manuel Battista
Email: mbattista@ropl.com
Tel: +44 1322 612069
Sales Manager
Yvonne Tindall
Email: ytindall@ropl.com
Tel: +44 1622 844027
Production Manager
Nick Bond
Email: production@ropl.com
Tel: +44 1322 612065
Marketing Director
Sarah OBrien
Email: sobrien@ropl.com
Tel: +44 1322 612080
Ofce Manager
Kelly Thompson
Circulation Manager
Preeti Lalli
Designers
Simon Ward, Andy Taylder
David Morley
Publisher/Managing Director
Andrew Barriball
Email: abarriball@ropl.com
Tel: +44 1322 612057
CEO
Roger Adshead
Email: radshead@ropl.com
Contact
London Ofce
Route One Publishing Ltd
Horizon House, Azalea Drive,
Swanley, Kent, BR8 8JR, UK
Tel +44 1322 612055
Fax +44 161 603 0891
E-mail:[initialsurname]@ropl.com
(eg:radshead@ropl.com)
Nottingham Ofce
Route One Publishing Ltd
Huntingdon House,
278-280 Huntingdon Street,
Nottingham NG1 3LY, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 115 950 8098
Fax +44 161 603 0891
E-mail: [initialsurname]@ropl.com
(eg: psmith@ropl.com)
Reader Enquiry Service:
Data@ropl.com
Published by

Route One Publishing Ltd 2011
No part of this publication may be reproduced in
any form whatsoever without the express written
permission of the publisher. Contributors are
encouraged to express their personal and
professional opinions in this publication, and
accordingly views expressed herein are not
necessarily the views of Route One Publishing
Ltd, or the International Road Federation.
From time to time statements and claims
are made by the manufacturers and their
representatives in respect of their products and
services. Whilst reasonable steps are taken
to check their accuracy at the time of
going to press, the publisher cannot be
held liable for their validity and accuracy.
Printed by: Headley Brothers
ISSN 1463-6344
Informed Authority
4 INTRODUCTION
Construction software offers users
multiple benets
5 ROAD ASSESSMENT &
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
Mapping ice roads, sustainable planning
8 ROAD DESIGN
Smart road design tools
10 GIS
Using GIS for advanced survey techniques
12 ASSET MANAGEMENT
Managing highways using GIS technology
17 BRIEFS
New software innovations in brief
18 PLANNING
Polish road corridor
19 INTEROPERABILITY
Bentleys moves towards data sharing
21 NEW SOFTWARE
New software innovations from
Autodesk and Bentley
26 CAD
Suite of CAD tools
28 VISUALISATION/
SIMULATION
3D visualisation and simulation tools
34 BIM
Explaining the BIM process
40 TRAFFIC CONTROL
Using microsimulation for effective
trafc control
43 PROJECT REPORT
Designing an interchange in Brisbane
45 LASER SCANNING/
POINT CLOUDS
Using lasers to scan bridges
46 CLOUD COMPUTING
Local authorities using the cloud
Cover
Indras road assessment
and planning program
is being used for a road
project in Argentina
34
8
26
the latest software taking full
advantage of the increased data
handling capabilities that result.
Faster GPS systems combined
with laser generated point cloud
data and more comprehensive
GIS information have had a huge
effect. These have improved
both the quality and quantity of
information available, allowing
engineers and designers a more
comprehensive and accurate
view of each project, even as
work progresses on-site. The
sheer quantity of data being
generated has created its own
issues, although the latest
software tools are better able to
cope with this more efciently
than before. By using the
latest sophisticated scanning
technologies, designers and
engineers can source accurate
data for use in design and
visualisation processes. At the
same time, some suppliers even
allow their software tools to
be rented, rather than bought,
by users who may need certain
capabilities for a pre-determined
period.
The Internet continues to play
a vital role by allowing data to
be transmitted and meaning that
users can access information
remotely. Even the software
itself can be running on a far
distant server and operated
and used remotely through
Internet-enabled technology.
Visualisation tools have
become more comprehensive,
allowing engineers and the
public to better understand a
project prior to its construction.
Feedback from the public or
engineers can be received
early on in a project, with the
latest software automatically
adding any changes made to
the model. The digital model of
a project can play a far more
important role than before,
being programmed into on-site
equipment to guide machines,
updated with recovered data and
then becoming the document of
record for the entire project.
The benets to the user have
multiplied and by employing
the latest software, users can
boost efciency, speeding the
design process, reducing the
need for reworking, cutting
project time and slashing
overall costs. These latest
innovations allow engineers
to accurately simulate and
evaluate complex projects
in minute detail, prior to any
physical construction activity
taking place.
There is an industry trend
towards better integration
between software products from
different providers. Interoperability
is a key strategy between
suppliers, in some cases even
amongst direct rivals. Various
rms have joined forces to ensure
their products are compatible
and even direct competitors have
agreed common protocols. Data
ow between software packages
from different suppliers can be
seamless, without the need for
repackaging information to cope
with a different format. This has
been an important development
as it boosts efciency by reducing
processing needs and reduces the
risk of errors.
Meanwhile each passing week
gives hardware suppliers time
to provide greater processing
power that is also cheaper, with
Software is a fast
moving market
Fast moving technology and innovations has
meant that construction software has come
a long way since the 1980s when the rst
purpose-developed programs were devised
Visualisation
tools have
become more
comprehensive,
allowing
engineers
and the public
to better
understand a
project prior to
its construction
INTRO
4 Software for Road Infrastructure
ROAD ASSESSMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
a large number of stakeholders
have an interest in where the
roads go. For the oil and mineral
companies who want them for
exploration a critical issue is
choosing the shortest possible
route. For the communities
there are objections to the roads
passing particular areas, or they
may want them to come closer.
Some 23 different criteria
have to be satised from federal
and state authorities to local
towns and communities, said
consultant Atkins senior project
manager Stephen Bourne. The
international multidisciplinary
rm has been part of a three year
study to nd a way to build, plan
and route the roads.
Then there are issues like
polar bear habitat which you
need to avoid for environmental
and for obvious human safety
reasons, said Bourne. Other
natural ora and fauna has to be
assessed too. On top there are
practical engineering issues too,
such as the amount of water in
the lakes along the route, he
added.
Unlike the Canadian roads,
those in Alaska are in less hilly
territory and usually do not
need to pass across the lake
surfaces. But the raw material
for the roads is pumped from
the watercourses and lakes and
so just how much water is used
is a critical issue. Roads are
formed with about a metre or
more thickness of ice built up
by spraying repeated layers,
he said. In some places ice
bridges must be formed too,
across stream valleys and other
declivities so there is a lot of
water needed.
The road construction usually
takes about two months and has
to wait for the ground to freeze
sufciently. A hardness test
using a simple penetrometer is
done, measuring how far a rod
will go into the ground after 25
measured blows. Seasonal water
In recent years one of
the odder reality type TV
programmes has been the
series Ice Road Truckers. This
gritty documentary series
follows the fortunes and
tribulations of long distance
drivers taking heavy equipment
loads hundreds of kilometres
to remote mining and oil
drilling camps in the sub-zero
conditions of the Canadian
north.
The huge trucks travel in winter
on temporary roads formed by
freezing water to make a load
bearing track through snow, forest
and, hair-raisingly, across lakes
frozen solid in Arctic conditions.
The trails melt quickly in the spring
thaw, which is dangerous, and they
have to be reformed again each
winter by spraying water once the
temperatures drop sufciently.
A question the programmes
rarely consider is how these
roads are planned, engineered
and routed. In fact the process is
tightly controlled and not least the
routes taken by the roads which
can be highly sensitive for various
engineering and environmental
reasons.
In the adjacent US state of
Alaska the same issues prevail and
GIS maps for ice roads
A web based mapping system is helping mineral
companies plan the winter ice roads used in the
freezing Alaskan wilderness
Careful analysis is made of
the various parameters to
ensure that the road can be
constructed on time and to
the necessary specications
changes and possible climate

change variations also have to
be borne in mind and so both
meteorological and climate data
has to be considered too. Planning
the best route is a complex
business therefore and to aid all
the different stakeholders a web
based map and calculation system
is being developed.
The consultant, together with
the local university of Fairbanks
environmental and water resources
centre, directed by Professor
William Schnabel, and researchers
from further away at the University
of Texas led by Professor Kelly
Rumbelow, have been putting
together a route planning program.
It used route calculation algorithms
being developed at Texas and
other data. It is built up on an
ESRI GIS mapping software, said
Bourne and information from a
lot of disparate databases has to be
brought together to feed into that.
An ARC-GIS server is used for the
mapping process and display.
But we use Microsoft Silverlight
for the service layer that integrates
and calculates everything. That is
an advantage because Silverlight
uses Visual Basic as its code which
is well known and does not involve
learning another language.
One of the functions of the
central program is to plot the
shortest route, which it does using
an anthill algorithm he explained,
which means a process similar
to the way dispersed ants will
settle on a short route to a piece
of food once it is discovered. The
algorithm tries hundreds of routes,
looking at the impact of dozens of
factors, and settles on a top listing;
10 of these are offered up as
choices on the Internet for various
stakeholders to comment.
All this has taken some three
years of development and the
system has successfully been
trialled internally. But federal
grants for the research have been
hit by the economic troubles and
there is still a bit more to do for it
to go public, said Bourne.
Once in place the mineral
companies will be able to select
a route and can get on with a
design and as the freeze settles
in. There may be scope to develop
the system for other purposes too,
perhaps using it for routeing light
railways or service roads through
awkward urban areas.
ESRI
www.esri.com
The lakes along the route provide additional challenges to the construction of the road
Heavy duty equipment is
carried along the ice road
The road has to carry heavy trucks and
is engineered to carry their weight
The tundra itself presents a challenging environment that is difcult to traverse except by air
The harsh Actic conditions are tough for humans but provide a habitat
for wildlife, a factor the road designers have to accommodate

A serious games
approach is
being used for
the project said
Indra, which will
have an articial
intelligence
engine to calculate
the effects of
projects
Sustainability is the watchword
for projects and developments
in the 21st century and that
applies to highways and roads
as much as anything else. The
benets of schemes have to
weighed against the impact
they have in economic and
environmental terms.
Early stage alignment planning
for roads and highways with tools
like Autodesks Infrastructure
Modeller 2012 or Eagle Points
earlier Landsketch for Highways,
described last year, can give an
idea of the road impact. But they
do not calculate in detail its effect
on a region in economic, social
and ecological terms.
A new complex assessment
system is being developed in
Spain that should do just that. The
Estrateco project aims to simulate
the regional environment through
which a project will pass and
calculate just how it will impinge
on various natural resources,
communities and local activities.
It can determine what overall cost
a highway will have in reducing
forest for example, but stimulating
other developments.
The program, being developed
by major IT house Indra in Spain, is
part of a joint cooperative research
project with Argentina under the
Iberoeka umbrella. Joint work is
being done by Indras Software
Lab network and environmental
services company Ambiental
Argentina.
The project aims to create a
simulation of a region with all
its natural resources and assets
represented. Aerial photography,
ground scans, ground
photography, maps and text
data will be combined to identify
natural resources such as forests,
water, wildlife, and minerals,
and more importantly their
values both economically and
ecologically.
A serious games approach
is being used for the project
said Indra, which will have an
articial intelligence engine to
calculate the effects of projects. It
takes into account a global vision
of an area, said Indra manager
of accessible technologies Alicia
Fernndez del Viso.
Existing environmental
management systems help
companies assess the impact
they make on an area, and can
help identify signicant factors
for enhancing control of raw
materials, optimising waste
and emission costs, reducing
accidents, and diminishing the
deleterious effects of a project on
the environment, he said. The
information can help maximise
the chances of planning approval
and perhaps approvals for
subsidies or loans.
But they work at single
project level whereas our system
will give a global view of all the
companies, factories, parklands,
natural resources and transport
in the area, he said. The
complex interactions between
these elements and the way they
are affected by new projects are
assessed.
That includes a causal model
that shows the connections
between all these things and
how changes in one feedback
and change again the values for
others. The calculated system
is displayed visually and can be
operated in the same kind of
way as modern video games to
allow ease of use.
In the software natural
assets are managed through
a simulator connected to the
Estrateco knowledge system,
he explained further. There is
also a social network in the
project to facilitate interactions
and to both inform and receive
information from the local
community.
Dashboards display factors
such as pollution, noise levels,
erosion impacts, water levels,
micro-climate and biodiversity,
and the level of industrialisation,
parkland, residences and
infrastructure is all displayed.
The system works along
principles established in the
Economics of ecosystems
and biodiversity TEEB report
said Fernndez. The report
set principles for calculating
ecosystem values in the overall
GDP output of countries.
The project has so far
completed the analysis and
denition of requirements and
is well into the development of
the interface and the logical core
processes. Pilots are underway
in Argentina in the Tucuman
area at Las Yungas and Valles
Calchiques. The software should
be ready next spring.
Indra
www.indracompany.com
Sustainable planning
A complex new program aims to assess accurately the
economic and environmental impact of new projects
alternatively has the basic
capacities but is then orientated
towards pipe network design.
And there is a comprehensive
package which incorporates all
of these, said Bar.
Sivan also produces an
additional stand-alone module,
its Simulate virtual reality image
generator which automatically
transforms CivilCAD projects into
a 3D visualisation. The image
allows navigable drive-through
simulation with a single mouse
click on the Simulate button.
The Simulate program
parses raw data from within
the drawing to construct an
accurate 3D model says Sivan.
It independently interprets
dened junctions, intersections,
roundabouts, and bridges based
on project specic parameters.
The menu for the Simulate
module is integrated menu
CivilCAD so that the designer
can access simulation properties
easily and dene additional
parameters. It is likely that
the new version 2012 will be
available only for Sivans own
CivilCAD program, at least at
rst. The 2010 version also is
compatible with Autodesks
Civil 3D.
Autodesk
www.autodesk.com
Sivan Design
www.sivandesign.com
New features are to be
announced but one will be a
new visibility checking tool,
allowing automatic line of
sight visibility measurement
and calculation for slopes
and corners says marketing
manager Nir Bar.
The program comes in a number
of variations depending on needs,
starting with a basic surveying
package for surveying and COGO
calculations. A standard version
includes those capacities but is
for topography and digital terrain
modelling, produces contours and
has volume calculations.
The main version is the roads
package which includes the two
subsidiary versions capabilities
but with a wide range of road
construction and design tools.
The water and pipes version
Innovative road
design from Sivan
Israeli vendor Sivan is about to launch a new version of its road design program
Civil CAD which is an AutoCAD platform program for surveying and road
construction functions. It is used in Israel, Africa and to some extent in Europe
ROAD DESIGN
Sivan also
produces an
additional stand-
alone module,
its Simulate virtual
reality image
generator which
automatically
transforms
CivilCAD projects
into a 3D
visualisation
The package allows the user an overview of a project

Various parameters of
the projected can be
evaluated more closely
ROAD DESIGN
which are normally based
on lines or polylines, can
now work directly to Civil 3D
alignments or corridors. Arm
roundabout geometry reacts
automatically to changes in
those selected alignments. It
also feeds back into Civil 3D by
creating alignments necessary
for the corridor model. These are
updated when the roundabout
geometry is changed.
These capacities mean bi-
directional links exist between
the software products which
work in real time and allow
the designer to see the effects
of changes to the roundabout
geometry on the ground model,
the cut and ll, and the drainage.
But this capacity can be further
enhanced by adding in trafc
analysis for the roundabout as
the design is changed.
Autotrack can do this by using
TRLs ARCADY software which is
an analysis tool for roundabout
built on empirical data, gathered
and analysed over many years.
It can measure factors such as
sensitivity and lane interaction.
The stand-alone TRL program,
from version 7.1, can be linked to
Savoys product using a special
bridge program which can then
display gures such as capacity,
LOS, and queue & delay from
ARCADY within Autotrack.
Changes in the roundabout
conguration are reected
immediately in an ARCADY data
window so that the designer
constantly knows the impact of
his changes.
Now all three programs
work together, displaying the
analyses and design in the
Civil 3D interface. Used like
this, the designer is beginning
to make designs in a rich-
data environment that allow
simultaneous assessment and
calculation of all the different
factors involved in making a
complex object.
With this package
roundabouts or other structures
and components are fully
independent data and attribute
laden parametric objects, a big
step towards BIM efciency. Or
as Savoy quotes consultant WSP
Group CAD manager Duncan
Brannan on its website this,
encompasses BIM methodologies
based on bi-directional design
and analysis workows.
Autodesk
www.autodesk.com
Savoy Computing
www.savoy.co.uk
TRL
www.trl.co.uk
A collaboration between
Savoy Computing in the UK,
specialising in swept path
and roundabout geometry,
the road laboratory TRL and
Autodesk, using its AutoCAD
Civil 3D design software, is
heading in the direction of
fullscale intelligent design for
roundabouts
The new capacities come with
version 9.20 of Savoys AutoTrack
swept path analysis program and
particularly the junctions module
for design and optimisation of
roundabouts.
The Junction package allows
designers to create roundabouts
according to their own national
standards with the geometry
automatically managed. Various
tools allow simple drag and
drop adjustments and addition
of items such as splitter islands,
crossings, rumble strips and speed
striping. Changes give feedback
immediately on other geometry,
vehicle paths and fastest path
speed. In version 9.2 the entry, exit,
circulation, right and left turn radii
and speeds are also given.
All this can be done inside
Autodesk Civil 3D program and
takes advantage of its dynamic
3D modelling capacities and
automatic update and recalculation
mechanisms. In particular
roundabout arm alignments,
Intelligent roundabout
The stand-alone
TRL program, from
version 7.1, can be
linked to Savoys
product using a
special bridge
program which can
then display gures
such as capacity,
LOS, and queue
& delay from
ARCADY within
Autotrack
Australias 12d road design

software, which is sold in 65
countries, is being launched in a
new version. The v10 software
includes new capabilities in
visualisation including timelines
to show moving sequences, live
interactivity with GIS systems,a
two way interactivity for eld
surveyors to report back from
site as well as take designs
there on mobile devices, and
enhancements to drainage design.
But rst and foremost is a
feature that treads down the
path towards full BIM, the
addition of components
capacity to the design tools.
These are pre-made parametric
design elements with complex
geometry that can be dragged
and dropped into the design,
tting to the strings where they
are positioned. They can then be
edited and adjusted to t.
The components can be
dened and built up as a library
by users, but a number of ready-
made items are included such
as roundabouts, intersections,
channelised rural intersections,
turning lanes, bus bays, exit
ramps and cul-de-sacs. A
novel new tool can be used
to accurately model paralleled
spirals.
These elements are part of
the latest version of 12 Model
which is 12d Solutions overall
civil engineering and transport
design package, which is used
for terrain modelling, corridor
design and quantities. It comes
in various levels depending
on the size of projects it will be
needed for, the largest being the
64-bit capable Bigfoot which
has capacity for projects with up
to 250 million datapoints.
The software uses a TIN
and string method to generate
its 3D surfaces and corridors
and has increasingly added in
update capacities so that when
design changes are made the
rest of the design is amended.
The automated geometry
recalculation engine modies
the visualisation, drainage and
sewers, volume calculation,
reporting and plotting les and
the complete road design. So
called referenced geometry
updates as the road is modied.
A range of additional modules
enhances the capacity of
the program, for high level
surveying, for detailed drainage
and for eld work. The latter
has been available in the Field
module which essentially allows
the functionality to be available
on small, daylight readable
tablets and notebooks, in the
eld. It has real time set-out and
pick-up importing and exporting
in all major industry le formats
and is GPS and TPS compatible.
The module gives direct control
of motorised total stations and
direct feed of satellite position data.
The latest version includes
Pickup capacities allowing
data transfer back to the ofce.
Drainage allows creation and
optimisation of drain and sewer
networks and now includes a 2D
ood analysis tool.
The design package includes
visualisation and rendering
capacities which 12d says are
sufcient for most purposes of
design review and client and
contractor communications.
Basic road textures, guard
rails, barriers, signs and other
elements are automatically
generated in their true design
positions and additional
elements like buildings, street
lights, trees, forests and lights
can be added for cosmetic
enhancement.
Visual class detection is
possible with the visualisation
module and in version 10 it
is possible to automate class
detection particularly for
drainage and pipework.
12d
www.12d.com
Other packages - 12D
This package allows processing
of integrated survey projects in
Trimble Business Center and then
moving survey, scan and image
data to Trimble RealWorks to
complete point-cloud and image
processing. Media les, such
as digital photos captured with
the Trimble TSC3 controller and
Trimble Tablet can be displayed,
edited, and exported to GIS and
Google Earth. The new Data
Processing Service is available
from the Trimble Business
Center 2.50 software and Trimble
Connected Community portal.
The service means a user can
send raw GNSS observation les
to an Internet processing service,
such as AUSPOS and Online
Positioning User Service (OPUS),
which returns a corrected co-
ordinate for the observed control
point. OPUS returns an XML le
that can be imported to Trimble
Business Center to incorporate
processed points with other
survey data. The Data Processing
Service can also automatically
convert Trimble-format les
to RINEX, and read antenna
information for verication and
editing.
Meanwhile Trimbles
updated RealWorks Software
package is designed to broaden
applications in 3D scanning
duties, a signicant step for
the construction design sector.
The RealWorks version 7.0
incorporates the newly approved
ASTM International E57 E2807
data exchange standard for 3D
imaging systems. By providing
full interoperability for 3D
scanning data, this allows users
more choices for design software,
depending on their applications
and workow. Trimble RealWorks
is a stand-alone solution for
the interpretation and 3D
rendering of scan point cloud
data. The ASTM Committee
E57 E2807 standard is a major
enhancement for 3D scanning
customers across a variety
of applications, said David
Fitzpatrick, general manager
of Trimbles Power, Process
and Plant Division. It gives the
users a standard way to utilise
3D scanning data in their ofce
software of choice. Support of
the new standard demonstrates
Trimbles continued commitment
to enhance the productivity of
our customers by supporting
their common workows and
represents the next step in
Trimbles long line of innovation
for the 3D scanning industry.
Trimble claims to have been
the rst supplier to introduce
standard surveying workows in
3D scanning instruments and the
rst to make a hybrid scanner/
total station commercially
available with the Trimble VX
spatial station.
Trimble
www trimble com
The version 2.50 of the
Business Center software
allows survey managers to
combine GNSS and optical
surveying data as well as
digital image information from
surveying instruments into a
single le.
This data can then be supplied
to a range of applications
such as GIS, photogrammetry
and CAD. Using this package
with Trimble Access Services
allows clients to collaborate
through the Trimble Connected
Community portal throughout
the phases of the project.
The software advance allows
efcient integrated surveying,
with its associated benets of
productivity, performance and
convenience. Trimble Business
Center integrates common survey
ofce processing tasks for GNSS
and optical terrestrial surveying
data into a single package. Trimble
Access Services provides a suite
of web-based applications that
improve survey efciency by
allowing sharing of information.
This provides a fast information
ow from the eld and allows
last-minute changes from the
ofce. Trimble Business Center
2.50 includes new features that
give ofce staff the ability to use
the integrated survey workow.
The program allows users to
export or import reduced-point
and observed-point information
to and from other applications.
Smarter surveying
Trimble is now offering improved software for the surveying sector as well
as a new data processing service and upgraded scanning capabilities
GIS
The sophisticated
scanning solution
from Trimble can be
integrated with its
software suite
A multi-layered GIS system
is being used by the UKs
Luton Borough Council for its
highways maintenance and
asset management.
It uses more than 190
individual layers of mapped
information ranging from
addresses to parking zones,
gritting routes, potholes and
street lights.
Over 3,000 staff access the
data held in the system using
an Intranet or internal Internet
system run by the council.
Members of the public can also
access the data via the councils
website where it can be used
to report a range of defects and
service delivery reports.
The system has been
developed for the council
by Croydon company GGP.
According to the council GIS
ofcer Peter Gell it currently
has 192 individual layers of
geographically referenced
GIS asset
system
information.
We started using their
GIS system back in 1998
when the initial map layers
were compiled from old
hand drawn highways
maps, said Gell. Over the
years we have seen a rise
in the number of requests
from other departments to
have their data added to the
system and that is how we
have arrived at this point
with nearly seventy day
to day users of the system
and with access to the data
from every desktop PC. The
geographically referenced
data is also used to power
our online mapping system
that provides members
of the public with a do it
online option.
Visitors to the Councils
website can identify the
location of an abandoned
car, highway defect or
missed bin, for example, and
when they click on the map
it automatically tells them
who is responsible for the
issue and displays contact
details, he said.
Data in the system is
stored in an international
standard format dened
by the Open Geospatial
Consortium OGC. The
capacity to read from and
write to spatial databases
directly means information
can be effectively shared
between departments and
other organisations.
It is part of eliminating
isolated data silos, reducing
data duplicity and improving
system interoperability. By
joining diverse datasets
there is a richer information
resource overall.
GGP
www.ggpsystems.co.uk
FREE subscription to
ITS International
when you register online
@ www.roplreg.com
12 months supply of ITS International magazine
(6 issues per year) in print
The ITS International eNewsletter emailed twice
a month to over 36,000 qualified individuals
Unlimited access to the ITS International
website with over 9 years of archived industry
information in a fully searchable format
Specials and supplements that focus on
specific areas
A subscription to ITS International gives you:
Register for FREE online
@ www.roplreg.com
V
o
l.1
7
Issu
e
N
o
.6
N
o
v
e
m
b
e
r/D
e
ce
m
b
e
r 2
0
1
1
w
w
w
.itsin
te
rn
a
tio
n
a
l.co
m

become familiar with new mobile
technology and learn how to
work with the cultural change
which automatically follows
when you introduce mobile
working.
The new mobile solution
enables our neighbourhood
workers to go straight out to
their daily inspections without
coming anywhere near the ofce.
As fully remote workers they
can perform all their tasks in the
eld using their mobile devices,
including handling emails, and
go straight back home at the end
of the day. We have also found
that the solution improves the
timeliness and quality of the
information collected. Inspectors
can log the coordinates of defects
on a graphical map interface,
take photographs, perform
risk assessments, raise works
orders, update customer service
requests and complete a range of
different types of inspections and
condition surveys. All the data
becomes available in the central
system in near real time. It also
integrates fully with Symologys
Street Works module, ensuring
full compliance with the Trafc
Management Act. Street works
notices are created automatically
upon import, for the Councils
own works raised on the
mobile. The way it works is very
impressive, said Carter and he
continued, You can tap in all
the details, press the send button
and, within a second, it appears
in the back ofce core system.
The ability is just amazing. If its
cold, for example, the inspectors
can just look up the MET ofce
website and call out gritters
for the following morning if
necessary. Its also important
to emphasise that having
more complete, timely data
in the central system enables
faster - and therefore cheaper -
settlement of insurance liability
claims where appropriate, and
further ensures that the Trafc
Manager is always completely
up-to-date.
Starting a project of this
nature requires solid project
management and Solihull
established a project group that
included representatives from
all the stakeholders. The mobile
software project was kicked off
with a 6 month development
phase that included monitoring
four different mobile devices on
In 2008, Solihull Metropolitan
Borough Council (Solihull)
approved a project to introduce
a software solution using
handheld devices, making its
network teams fully mobile.
Today, Solihull is using mobile
technology to improve service
levels and change the way
that inspectors carry out
their roles while achieving
multiple efciency savings in
the process. In August 2010,
their innovative solution won
the Communicator Telecoms
Innovation Award established
to recognise excellence in
Public Sector Communications.
Potholes, smashed kerbs and
raised agstones are all everyday
problems that need to be tackled,
preferably very quickly. This was
the background for a project
introducing Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA) technology in
Solihull based on Symologys
Insight Mobile Solution. The
solution has just been awarded
the Communicator Telecoms
Innovation Award with the
following motivation from the
judges
.. An innovative mobile
application that has the potential
to deliver huge benets both for
council inspectors and for the
environment of residents...
Directorate performance
manager, David Carter, who
project managed the mobile
software project explained, We
used to have a process which
required the neighbourhood
coordinators to rely on a manual
paper based system. This meant
they had to be ofce based for a
proportion of their work time to
initiate service requests and gather
customer requests and this took
away valuable time from the core
functions they need to perform
within the community. The main
drivers behind the mobile solution
were requirements to improve
the overall efciency, improve
the NRSWA recording and to
help implement changes in the
Highways Act which required an
increase in inspections. At the
same time, we also wanted to
In our hands
Novel mobile software solution for highways and street lighting inspections
ASSET MANAGEMENT
The hand-held device is
helping speeding speed
maintenance and repair
operations in Solihull
ASSET MANAGEMENT
we worked with before the
system became operational. The
expectation levels are however
roughly as follows: 10% increase
in community engagement
activity; 10% increase in NRSWA
Inspections; 25% increase in
Asset Management Capture; 20%
decrease in the amount of ofce
space needed; and 10% decrease
in mileage. I would think that by
the end of next year we should
be able to measure the actual
outcome.
Today, the solution is deployed
to 15 Highways inspectors who
use the system every day. They
are using Vodaphone v1520
(Asus P550) devices running
Windows mobile 6.0, equipped
with a 3.5 screen, 3G GPRS and
GPS. The next group of users
are12 Street Lighting engineers,
who will begin using the system
shortly and, because of the
nature of their work, will use
the more rugged Trimble Juno
devices running Windows 6.1
Classic.
According to Carter, 2010
would appear to be the year of
tablet devices spearheaded
by the Apple iPad. We have
purchased a rugged PC and
were in the process of testing
its functionality. Were also
considering netbook type devices
as well as reviewing Windows
7. We have one tablet device on
test currently within a Highways
Inspection environment and
we have another device being
used in our highway planning
environment with the aim to
reduce the need to print large
plans for site visits. There are,
however, some downsides to
tablet PCs in comparison to
PDAs. Theyre more expensive,
they have lower battery life,
they are heavier and we also
have to bear in mind that a PDA
is easy to conceal and hence
protect from potential theft
whereas a tablet is more visible
and tempting. The upside
to introducing tablets is that
they allow direct access to the
core back ofce system; they
facilitate a single infrastructure
both in terms of Audio Visual
appearance and security and
therefore require less training.
I am condent that the tablet
technology will come down
in price and that they will
come with a mainstream
operating system which will
eventually replace the need for
the PDAs. Using tablets will
no doubt further improve the
inspectors experience of agile
working especially because the
functionality is similar to the
core system where the PDA has
its own sub-infrastructure. Our
plans for the next ve years
include looking at the new
Symology handheld software -
which has been re-developed to
enable operation on tablet PCs,
an enhanced mobile mapping
system, and new quick-click
recording facilities - and looking
at a replacement device either
new PDAs or tablets.
Symology
www.symology.co.uk

a test system. It took some time to
integrate the mobile solution with
the existing Street Works Module
and Symologys technicians helped
Solihull with this process. One
of the issues that needed to be
focused on when using a mobile
solution is the security aspect.
Solihull found that the security
software could not keep up with
the windows mobile operating
systems and had to upgrade.
Carter explained, In order to
succeed with a software project
which so massively changes
the way we work, you need to
establish a critical path and make
sure that you have the relevant
milestones and check points
to incorporate feedback from
the users. Therefore, we made
sure that we had regular input
from the user group throughout
the process, from specication
and development through to
implementation and testing.
Likewise, the technology providers
Vodaphone for the mobile
devices and Symology for the
software - worked closely with
us throughout the entire process.
The support we have had has
been tremendous and our account
manager from Symology feels
like part of the team. It really is
a good example of a partnership
that works - and that includes
Vodaphone.
The system went operational
in January 2009 with the mapping
functionality added in August.
Training was provided jointly by
Solihull and Symology, with a
follow-up drop-in session two
months later to address any
problems experienced. A training
video was produced and made
available on ofcers ofce desk
tops. The council now plans to put
the video directly on the hand-held
devices, so if an inspector in the
eld is unsure about something,
the video is available.
Carter said, We wanted to
ensure that 100% of our highways
inspections were completed on
time despite an increase in the
numbers of inspections required
and by maintaining the current
staff levels. We also wanted to
reduce the amount of travel and
reduce the amount of paper work.
We have set some targets which
roughly indicate the efciency
improvements we expect to gain
but thus far the solution has
not been fully in operation long
enough for us to measure the
benchmarks against the baselines
In order to
succeed with
a software
project which
so massively
changes the way
we work, you
need to establish
a critical path
and make sure
that you have
the relevant
milestones and
check points
to incorporate
feedback from
the users
Modular mobile solution,
fully integrated with the core
back ofce Symology Insight
Suite
Standardised for Microsoft
Windows handheld devices
and 3G or GPRS mobile
networks
Trafc Management Act
compliance through full
integration with Symologys
Street Works Module
GPS, Camera and 3G
communications all integrated
in semi-rugged Trimble Juno
SC device
Greater number of
inspections, with more
complete, better quality data
Operating efciencies from
better utilised inspectors,
improved handling of
insurance liability claims, plus
expected saving in fuel, travel
time and paper work
Minimal investment and
maximum functionality
through modular approach
Future proof solution with
regular free software updates
catering for changes in
requirements
Solihull Mobile Solution @ a Glance
road network every year and
the result is a comprehensive
overview of the state of Dutch
roads. During a single survey,
the ARAN provides data on
pavement quality including
rutting, surface texture and
ride quality. The ARAN also
captures HD-resolution Right-of-
way imagery every 2m and the
sensor data is then analysed by
Rijkswaterstaat to estimate the
pavement maintenance need of
the upcoming year.
Over a period of years, the
data captured by the ARAN
accumulated at Rijkswaterstaats
ofces, but was rarely being
used after analysis for pavement
management. In parallel,
Rijkswaterstaat employees in
the country developed a need
to view the environment along
a highway without having
to leave the ofce. Extensive
image capturing programs were
considered, but deemed too
expensive, specically because
a lot of visual data was already
collected with the ARAN system.
Instead this needed to be
disseminated to Rijkswaterstaats
9,000 employees, spread across
dozens of regional ofces.
Carrying out this proved to be
a challenge, since the imagery
alone measured over 1.5
Terabyte of data/year. Quickly
providing access to this data over
the existing corporate intranet
infrastructure proved to be
challenging.
In The Netherlands, one of
the most densely populated
countries of Europe, an
extensive highway network
is available to the public.
The Dutch highway network
is of vital importance to the
countrys economy, which
relies for a large part on
international logistics with
the Rotterdam sea port and
Amsterdam airport as major
hubs.
The Dutch highways are
generally well maintained and of
high quality, but this comes at a
cost. To simplify road maintenance
and save costs by using existing
data sources, specialist rm
Fugro was contracted by the
executive body of the Dutch
Ministry of Infrastructure and the
Environment, the Rijkswaterstaat,
to develop the Dutch Visual Road
Database.
The Dutch highway system is
maintained by Rijkswaterstaat,
which ensures the safe and
smooth ow of trafc on roads
and waterways, protects against
ooding, provides sufcient, clean
water and supplies reliable and
useful information. In total, its
responsibility stretches a length
of 3,042km of highways, mostly
dual carriageways with two or
more lanes/direction. In addition,
Rijkswaterstaat is responsible for
maintaining the national waterway
network, including canals and
rivers.
Dutch roads handle heavy
trafc volumes on a daily basis
and every kilometre of trafc
jam is considered to bring
signicant economic damage.
As a result it is crucial that the
roads are of high quality and that
their maintenance is performed
without impeding trafc ow.
To do so, Rijkswaterstaat has
been a long time user of Fugros
ARAN technology. This vehicle,
the Automatic Road ANalyzer,
provides full details of pavement
quality while driving at regular
trafc speeds.
The Rijkswaterstaat is using the
ARAN vehicle to survey the entire
Going Dutch
The Dutch Visual Road Database: a simple idea proves
effective - Martin Kodde, Pim Voogd
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Using Fugros servers to
host road data gathered by
the ARAN vehicle from the
Dutch road network has
allowed a vast increase in
network maintenance and
management efciency for
Rijkswaterstaat
The Rijkswaterstaat is using the ARAN vehicle to survey

the entire road network every year and the result is a
comprehensive overview of the state of Dutch roads
ASSET MANAGEMENT
of operations, the number of
users increased substantially.
Some reported uses of the
Visual Road Database included
the investigation of a trafc
sign plan at a dense highway
junction. Before, Rijkswaterstaat
employees would have to go out
and check the current situation
but they could now review the
situations of the last two years
from their ofce desk.
Another reported application
of the Visual Road Database
is the investigation of trafc
barrier types and condition. This
helps the local road maintainer
to assess the replacement
needs. Rijkswaterstaat expects
that using the Visual Road
Database will reduce costs and
increase trafc safety since these
investigations can for a large part
be done from the ofce instead of
going out and drive slowly along
the trajectory.
The Visual Road Database
will be hosted by Fugro for
the coming two years. Then,
the use and features of this
application will be assessed by
Rijkswaterstaat and Fugro. So
far, the Visual Road Database
proved to be a viable tool
for daily road maintenance,
reducing maintenance costs
and increasing safety. Since
Fugro provides both the hosting
as well as the application,
Rijkswaterstaat is relieved over
the next two years from the task
of hosting a large amount of data
and providing support to this
service.
Fugro
www.fugro.co.uk
Besides the hosting itself, an
ICT problem, tight integration of
the data with the existing intranet
WebGIS infrastructure was needed.
This would allow easy entrance
to the data for all employees and
a familiar interface to the users.
Since Rijkswaterstaat aims the
re-use of data for reasons of
cost efciency, Rijkswaterstaat
ordered Fugro to make the imagery
available in a centralised fashion.
The solution was to implement
an existing application for
distributing ARAN data over the
Internet. Fugros VisiWeb product
is a fully web based application
to access the imagery captured
by ARAN and featured exactly
the needs of Rijkswaterstaat.
The application allows users to
quickly drive through the data
at high speed to quickly nd
spots of interest. The application
also provides access to the full
resolution of the image and all
the administrative data that is
attached to the imaged road
segments. A simple map view
displays the location of these
road segments. Users can nd
a road segment by selecting
properties from a database search
window, or by clicking on a point
in Rijkswaterstaats Map viewer
application.
Since VisiWeb is an out-of-
the-box application, the amount
of development work was
limited. Fugro converted all of
Rijkswaterstaats last two years
of data to a new, more efcient,
database format. The VisiWeb
application was fully adapted to
match the corporate identity of
Rijkswaterstaat and efciently
integrate into the existing intranet
web map application. All of the
3TB of data is hosted on Fugros
servers, shielded by rewalls
that make sure only authorised
employees have access to the data
set.
Users of the Visual Road
Database do not notice that they
are accessing an externally hosted
program, as the system is available
through a single button in their
Map viewer application. After
clicking the button, the user clicks
on a location in the map and is
then brought directly to Fugros
server where Visiweb will show up
the corresponding image.
Soon after the introduction of the
hosted ARAN imagery in the Visual
Road Database, users started
exploring the use of imagery in
daily practice. Within two months
A GIS based road asset
management system is being
launched by the specialist
highway survey company
Yotta in the UK. It will be
one of the rst purely built
on a GIS location foundation
rather than starting with
traditional linear reference
systems.
Traditional systems store road
data in a large database and then
analyse that before displaying
the results. GIS map modules are
added to the systems for visual
display as well as text and report
display. But the new Yotta system
stores all its data and analyse it
via maps and map layers.
Called Horizons the new
system is also one of the rst
cloud based asset management
systems. That means it is being
offered as a web based system,
hosted and managed by Yotta
itself, and accessed by users
through an ordinary browser,
such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.
As a result rstly it is
very simple to use, said
Simon Topp, Yotta sales and
services manager. Most asset
management systems are quite
complex and very intensive to
learn and use with a variety
of complex dashboards and
interactions to get used to.
He said a lot of systems were
used only by a few trained staff,
And if they leave sometimes no
one knows what to do with it. We
wanted to provide an interface
that was easy to use and
accessible so that the software
can be used by anyone fairly
quickly.
The Horizons system is
therefore very visual he
said, starting from maps and
building up layers of disparate
information which can be
matched and compared for
analysis. As long as you are
familiar with browsers and
Google Maps it is quite simple.
Manish Jethwa, Yottas
chief technology ofcer
explained that Yotta has come
to the development of asset
management from a different
direction because it is a survey
company, providing asset
inventories and road condition
surveys from GPS synchronised
video and laser scan vehicles,
and sometimes traditional
detailed walked surveys.
The aim initially was to allow
clients to make much more
use of the data that they have
collected for them he said. But
using GIS and geo-referenced
Effective asset management

visual mapping allows
all sorts of analysis such
as plotting accident data
against road geometry and
surface condition. But of
course that is not limited to
highways data; all kinds of
asset data can be included.
Survey data, asset data
and other third party data
can be easily combined
he says and they then all
become accessible from a
browser so that engineers
and managers can log on
wherever they are to do
analysis and make decisions
about maintenance and
replacement. For the
moment he says the focus
is on road and condition
management. Yotta has its
own pavement management
system which can be used
with Horizons.
At present the Yotta
system will not displace the
much greater functionality
of other asset management
systems said Jethwa,
particularly in areas like job
management and works
control but it is not ruled
out for the future. Street
lighting, or structures
management may well be
possible as the software
develops he says and it has
been moving quite fast in
development.
But the aim is to give
authorities an easy and
exible system with a strong
emphasis on visualisation
for working and examining
the data. Jethwa said,
which is where Horizons
begins rather than it being
an interface option on
top of a big even clunky
database. Remember we
originate with the Oxford
Metric Group and a strong
background in image
analysis.
Part of the philosophy
of the system has been to
focus on achieving a very
clear interface he said.
But the hosted system has
advantages too for local
authorities particularly
in times of economic
stringency. Costs for a big
database system are very
much upfront, whereas this
will be used on a licensed
basis. Agencies do not have
to install any software so it
can be got up and running
very quickly.
Costs will vary
depending on the size of an
organisation but could be
between 15,000 for a small
network owner to 100,000
for larger agencies. The
new Horizons system has
been undergoing trials with
a number of bodies during
the last year and a rst
operational system is likely
to be installed this autumn.
Topp says the response has
been good and the interface
impresses those who see it.
For the moment the
Horizons asset management
system is for the UK but
there is no reason to stop
it being tailored to local
reference systems says
Jethwa. He added that the
UK governments pavement
management requirements
have set a high standard
in world terms which open
up various possibilities for
future development.
Yotta
www.yotta.co.uk
At present the
Yotta system will
not displace the
much greater
functionality of other
asset management
systems said Jethwa,
particularly in areas
like job management
and works control but
it is not ruled out for
the future
Using effective maintenance
strategies allows road
surface issues to be tackled
quickly, before they develop
into greater problems
I\Xc$k`d\[\Z`j`fejlggfikjf]knXi\]fi
kiX]]`Z]fi\ZXjkè^Xe[dXeX^\d\ek%
M`j`knnn%X`djle%Zfd
fiZfekXZkè]f7X`djle%Zfd
]fi]\Xkli\jXe[gi`Zè^%
KiX]]`ZdXeX^d\ek KiX]]`ZdXeX^\d\ek
Xkk_\jg\\[f]c`]\
ASSET MANAGEMENT

BRIEFS
A new entry to the road
sign software market is
Sign Design Pro from
the UK rm Design Pro
Software. As it says on
the can, the program aims
to automate and simplify
the complex business of
signage which is always
surrounded by numerous
rules, standards and
requirements for specic
typefaces, colours and
visibility.
According to developer
Martin Quigley the program
has originated from specialist
CAD technicians who have
worked in the sector and
know the specic problems
faced. It allows them to
drastically reduce time taken
on signage, from as much a
day for each, checking and
altering to a short period
where the constraints and
standards are automatically
applied.
For the moment the
program uses the latest
AutoCAD platform, though
Quigley hopes a Microstation
version can appear soon. It
is also suitable for British
standards but a wider range of
international standards are to
be developed.
Design Pro Software
www.designprooftware.co.uk
Design innovation
TRL has launched a
software product to help
keep the UKs roads
moving when an incident
or planned event threatens
to create signicant
congestion. TEST, the Tool
for Evaluating Strategies
for Trafc, has been
developed for operators of
Trafc Control Centres to
predict the consequences
of actions they undertake
on their network, in
response to an incident.
Incidents, events and road
works all have the potential
to impact trafc patterns and
ows and can often cause
signicant congestion and
delay to the public. New
regulations mean that local
highway authorities (LHAs)
are required to expand their
existing planning beyond
managing trafc on their own
road network, to assessing
the potential impact of any
trafc management plans on
neighbouring networks as
well.
TEST uses trafc PTVs
VISSIM micro-simulation
package integrated with
real time signal control
mechanisms such as Split
Cycle and Offset Optimisation
Technique (SCOOT) and
Microprocessor Optimised
Vehicle Actuation (MOVA)
to evaluate signal strategies.
This enables operators to
plan for events by presenting
the software with different
scenarios. A user can evaluate
what would happen should
a vehicle break down in a
stretch of one-way road and
how changing signals to
allow more green time would
affect tailbacks for example.
The software allows different
signal settings to be trialled
and comparison of the results
of different strategies to be
viewed. This allows operators
to decide upon effective
strategies for events and
implement them should they
occur.
Operational efciencies can
be gained by testing ofine
multiple options for routes,
lane closures and trafc signal
plans prior to a planned event;
or through the testing of new
signalised junctions prior to
their installation. This ensures
optimum operation of the
junction at the implementation
phase, reducing bedding in
times and allowing road users
to benet.
Integrating TEST into the
operator environment can also
bring signicant improvements
to road user perception and
satisfaction, by providing a
smoother and more consistent
experience to drivers through
applying the most appropriate
trafc signals and plans for
a given scenario. TEST also
delivers economic benets by
reducing congestion and delay
by maximising the capacity
of the existing road space,
while maintaining shorter
and more reliable journey
times. The package has been
designed based on open
architecture standards, is user
friendly, with users needing
no previous micro-simulation
experience to work with the
tool.
PTV
www.ptv.de
TRL
www.trl.co.uk
Faster sign design can be achieved using a new package from Design Pro Software
Improving trafc ow
New technology from TRL could
help keep the UKs trafc moving
more effectively and efciently
PLANNING
A major road study by
consultant Scott Wilsons
Polish ofce has led to changes
in the planned alignment of
a major highway over 300km
long that will help protect and
preserve signicant wildlife
zones and pristine forest.
The road in question is a much
needed link between the Polish
capital Warsaw and the three
Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania
and Estonia lying to the north east.
Trade has been growing with these
countries and substantially since
they and Poland acceded to the
European Union a few years ago.
The existing two way road to
Budziska in Lithuania is carrying
a high load of freight trafc
and passengers, said senior
transportation analyst Wacaw
Jastrzbski, and is the only
land connection to those three
countries.
Even more signicantly it
is their only route out into
the European market. Since
the EU principle is one of
interconnectedness it is also a
key part of the trans-European
Network (TEN) developments.
Plans for a dual two lane
expressway connection were
considered in the 1990s but have
attracted signicant political
and green hostility because
of important plant and animal
species such as rare swans and
forest animals. These objections
gained further weight by the
designation of Nature 2000 zones
in the region and requirements of
the EU concerning environmental
protection before funds can be
awarded for projects.
The road administration asked
us to look again at possible
alignments, said Jastrzbski.
Some 40 options, drawn from the
government, green groups and
the consultant itself have been
assessed using primarily INROs
Emme 2 program combined with
input from Esri Arcview GIS data
for community information, land
use and protected zones.
Jastrzbski said that he likes the
interface and methodology for
Emme and found it comfortable
to use. The consultant developed
its own small program to link
in GIS data although Emme 3
includes Esri import and display
as part of its basic functionality.
The Scott Wilson study has
led to a revised route for the
project being accepted by the
government. It is likely to be built
piecemeal as and when funding
becomes available, particularly
from Brussels.
Esri
www.esri.com
IINRO
www.inro.ca
Polish road corridor
Plans for a dual two lane expressway connection

were considered in the 1990s but have attracted
signicant political and green hostility because
of important plant and animal species such as rare
swans and forest animals
A special publication from the publisher of

World Highways and ITS International
Barriers
Surface materials and treatments
Tunnel management systems
Developments in variable message signs
Emergency telephone systems
Frangibles
Vulnerable road users
Delineation
CCTV / Automated Incident Detection
Access Control / ANPR
A supplement to
www.worldhighways.com www.itsinternational.com
For further information please contact Daniel Emmerson, Sales Manager
email: dan@ropl.com or Tel: +44 1322 612068
PUBLISHED
M
ARCH
&
O
CTO
BER
2
0
1
2
TOTAL
CIRCULATION:
65,000 COPIES
WORLDWIDE
INTEROPERABILITY
reap rewards for the future. This
business will be integrated into
the Bentley portfolio and will
further develop its capabilities
in this technology area.
Bentley Systems rst started
a partnership with Pointools
some years ago but has opted
to acquire the rm as part of its
long-term strategy to broaden
its offering in key elds. With the
acquisition of Pointools, Bentley
says it will be able to move
beyond embedding the Vortex
engine in MicroStation and
will now be able to assimilate
point cloud processing and
data management through its
own ProjectWise and AssetWise
software platforms. The move
further enables users of Bentley
software products to use large
datasets from point cloud scans
and incorporate them into 3D
models. At this stage the size
of the acquisition has not been
released however.
The deal is a signicant one
and CEO Greg Bentley said,
Laser scanning can be used
to create a useful 3D model of
assets.
The value of point cloud
technologies for construction
is one that Bentley identied
early on and the rm has had a
relationship with Pointools for
some time. However Bentley said
that this acquisition allows the
rm to further integrate point
cloud processing throughout its
product portfolio. The rm says
its move ahead from embedding
the Vortex engine within the
MicroStation package with
point cloud processing and
Software specialist Bentley
Systems continues to expand
its operations by developing
its product portfolio, as well
as buying up other smaller
companies, making key
agreements with other rms
and broadening its base for
interoperability.
One of the most signicant
deals is for the rms acquisition
of Pointools, the UK-based point
cloud technology specialist
with which Bentley has had a
partnership for some time. Several
other key partnership deals have
also been struck with companies
including giants Microsoft and
Adobe, as well as the smaller rm
Bluebeam Software.
Bentleys acquisition of point
cloud specialist Pointools is
another strategic move that will
Data sharing
Bentley Systems is making strategic moves to develop
partnerships and boost interoperability - Mike Woof reports
Bentley Systems is
continuing with its strategy
of boosting interoperability
that allowed GIS data to
be gathered using Topcon
hardware, used in its own
design software and then
downloaded onto Trimble
machine control equipment
for the A46 road project
recognises some clients may

favour certain products from
one or the other and no longer
locks these users out from data
sharing.
The deal with Microsoft is for
its Azure cloud-based services,
which will sustain infrastructure
to architecture, engineering,
construction and operations
(AECO). The new Bentley
Transmittal Services package
will allow AECO businesses to
package, receive and track their
transmittals using a dashboard
portal. These shared services are
said to be of benet to users of
the ProjectWise and AssetWise
platforms, reducing risk and time
needed for working as well as
allowing greater visibility of the
status of a project. The rm says
that this new capability allows
users to access and include
in the transmittal the correct
versions of design content,
with improved ow across an
organisation and any rewalls
through the Azure cloud. Scott
Guthrie, corporate vice president
at Microsoft said, You can store
and use data from anywhere on
the desktop.
Another crucial move
for Bentley Systems comes
through the agreements made
with Adobe, the developer
of the widely used PDF le,
and Bluebeam Software.
This strategic deal will allow
PDF les to be used more
efciently in construction
design processes, navigating 3D
models and drawings within PDF
documents. Bluebeam is a small
specialist software rm that has
concentrated on developing tools
around PDF creation, mark-up
and editing for AECO workows.
According to Bentley Systems,
this agreement will allow greater
mobility for AECO content.
Bentley said that this will ensure
the integrity of data being sent to
eld workers, PDFs have been
an instrument of information
mobility. He added that 3D PDFs
can be viewed by engineers,
providing an effective tool for
fast visualisation.
Singh commented, No matter
where the mark-ups originated,
they will get integrated into
ProjectWise. The mark-up goes
back to the source le and we
also audit all the source trails
so you can prove you have
done the work. He added that
a watermark system for policy
management also ensures that
the user can receive the original
PDF le without subsequent
changes and that this system
works on PC, Tablet and the iPad.
The system uses the source trail
to identify changes as well as
who has added them.
John Landwehr is senior
director for enterprise solutions
at Adobe and he said, Integrated
projects require data mobility.
We go all the way from basic le
sharing. He continued, Bentley
will extend PDF to include AECO-
specic functionality through
its i-model plug-ins for Adobe
Acrobat and Adobe Reader.
The move is of signicance
for users of Bluebeams PDF
Revu mark-up and collaboration
package, which enables digital
workows for users of Bentley
software products. Richard Lee,
president and CEO of Bluebeam
commented, Revu users will
soon be able to synchronise their
redlines through ProjectWise
directly back to the information
source, such as MicroStation,
OpenPlant or AECOsim
applications.
Bentley Systems
www.bentley.com
data management capabilities
being available throughout the
ProjectWise and AssetWise
platforms. Eliminating point cloud
distribution and adoption obstacles
through i-models and ProjectWise
will allow a more efcient and
effective ow of data in both
directions between the designers
and the construction operations.
Design changes or on-site changes
can be accommodated more
quickly and efciently as a result.
To prevent the user being buried
in data, a new capability within
ProjectWise provides only the point
cloud information required. The
system can give a low resolution
overview of a project for which
high resolution point cloud data
is available, only providing the
high resolution data as the user
zooms in on a specic area. The
capability is being increased
further with the addition of a point
cloud management and streaming
service also being introduced.
The company says that its latest
Descartes V8i program is offering
advanced point cloud processing
and management capabilities, to
speed workows and reduce costs.
Bentley said that point cloud
scanning technologies have
become ever more efcient and
provide greater quantities of data.
However this has generated its
own problem and he said, The
data les have been intractable due
to their size.
The sheer quantity of data that
is generated poses issues for
handling and storage. Bhupinder
Singh, senior vice president
at Bentley Systems said, The
problem you have with point
clouds is that the hardware is
getting cheaper and youre having
to integrate more and more of
those huge data les.
Pointools is also a supplier of
point cloud technology to various
other technology rms, including
Bentley Systems closest rival
Autodesk. However Bentley said
that this should not be an issue,
Were a leading developer for
Autodesk products.
And another highly strategic
move is the agreement on
interoperability between
Bentley Systems and Autodesk.
This arrangement will allow
compatibility so that data libraries
from either rms products will
be accessible to the other. This
mature agreement between two
close competitors will strengthen
both in the long term, as it
INTEROPERABILITY
No matter where the mark-ups originated,

they will get integrated into ProjectWise.
The mark-up goes back to the source le
and we also audit all the source trails so
you can prove you have done the work

NEW SOFTWARE
own 3D designs into a common
space.
But collaborative working and
need to control and check design
work to ensure it all ts together
has meanwhile been developing
on a separate path. The
difculties of doing it properly
and without mistakes arose
before 3D models in fact, as more
and more separate components
were needed for schemes, such
as services, drainage, lighting
and so forth on roads alongside
structures, the road and paving
work itself and other elements.
The rise of the managed contract
with many subcontractors has
added complexity.
Alongside this the capacity of
computers to generate multiple
copies of data and design as
work is done and changes made,
has added to complexity. This
has added to potential confusion
and the generation of errors,
said Phil Jackson a consultant on
BIM to Bentley Systems. He told
a recent conference on the issue
that the proliferation of drawings
in mulitiple versions was in itself
a growing problem as the ease
of emailing design changes has
increased.
Deciding, or knowing which
is the latest version, and what
changes stand or not, is a major
waste of time and money, he
said.
On top of that drawings can
be ambiguous or improperly
nished, inaccurate, to the
wrong style, or simply not t for
purpose at different stages of
construction. They may work at a
level of accuracy suitable for one
task but require greater precision
when other work has to be done.
Sometimes drawings are not
even geo-referenced to the same
base.
Many tens of millions of dollars
can be wasted by incomplete
information in drawings or
documents, and the time and
resource consuming need to go
to and fro to conrm dimensions,
gures, and lines, or even to redo
Alongside the development of
the Building Information Model
(or BIM) produced by modern
three dimensional design
softwares, a host of other
developments are now feeding
into the growing concept of
BIM construction.
One of these is collaborative
working on projects by large
teams of engineers, both within
single construction companies,
across joint ventures and into the
design team, and more and more
all the way back along the supply
chain. The concept also extends
this way of working in time,
from early conceptual design to
maintenance and even eventual
decommissioning.
The BIM, or what some prefer
more generally to call just the
information model which covers
all sectors including heavy civil
engineering, helps draw teams
together for these ever more
complex and extended life-cycle
projects, integrating their work via
the model, each feeding in their
Improved collaboration
Bentley Systems has produced a specially tailored version of
its ProjectWise coordination software to match new rigorous
collaboration standards created for the UK industry
Greater levels of
collaboration across
major road projects can
be achieved using new
tools available from
Bentley Systems
is prescribed right down to the

naming conventions for les,
the style, and the denitions of
what the information is t for and
equally important what it is not
t for.
Design drawings go through a
sequence in which they are rst
live for working on by whoever
is the owner, be it a consultant
engineer, or a utility company.
These are named in a certain
way. Once signed off as ready for
use, itself a specied procedure,
the drawing is put into a public
space but crucially with a
different numbering.
This version is locked but can
be accessed by others for their
needs, for example a heating
and ventilation designer can
use it as a framework in which
to work out his own design. But
crucially this designer cannot
amend the published document.
The designer then publishes
his or her own document, again
following strict conventional
procedure, and this too can be
used in the same way.
Changes and amendments
needed also have a procedure,
and so does textual and other
information which needs to
go alongside the drawings. All
this mechanism can apply to
conventional CAD 2D drawings
or to 3D models and is in itself
not an automated system.
But the standard lends itself to
automation, particularly through
something like Bentley Systems
increasingly widely used
version tracking, collaboration
and control server software
ProjectWise.
A modied version of
ProjectWise has been produced
precisely for this purpose in
conjunction with the huge multi-
work on site where things dont t.
It can all be made worse by not
my problem attitudes or even
sometimes antagonisms on site
and some of these questions began
to be tackled two decades ago in
studies such as the Latham Report
in the UK. At the same time a way
of disciplining the processes was
addressed via a British Standard
called BS1192. This was revised in
2007 to take account of modern
software and procedures. It sets
out a rigorous framework for
a construction project which
governs how drawing and design
information is produced, how it
is signed off and how it is made
available to others.
It is actually a very simple
idea, said Mervyn Richards from
MRI Consulting who has been
involved in the development of the
standard, though the detail takes
a long time to set out. Everything
NEW SOFTWARE
Finnish software specialist
DynaRoad says that its latest civil
engineering site planning software
allows users to better tie site
earthmoving activities to location.
For civil and heavy construction
being able to connect location to
the activity plays a central role of
achieving the expected results,
said the DynaRoad software
houses business development
manager Marcus Bck.
All contractors particularly
need to understand how different
activities in the same location
affect each other, where most
efciently to send work teams
once they have nished in a
particular location, and for most
road schemes how existing trafc
will affect work ow.
And there is also a need to
communicate plans to all involved
such as consultants, clients, and
subcontractors, he said.
Dynaroad as a planning tool for
earthmoving in particular allows
contractors to tie their schedules
Finnish expertise

NEW SOFTWARE
emphasised that the savings
and gains from sticking to the
standard would be visible on
much smaller scale schemes
as well at the giant ones.
Bentleys BS1198 version of
ProjectWise is already to go
with the standards in place. But
it is also congurable within
the parameters allowed by the
standard.
For the minute the method
is for UK use but it may well be
adopted in other places that have
followed British standards in the
past.
However at its most basic, the
issues of working together boil
down to consistency, disciplined
procedures and control of
drawings and documents. To
tackle all this in the UK, the
defunct British Standard BS1192,
developed in the 1990s, has been
reworked as BS11920-2007. It
sets out essentially a rigorous
procedure for the production and
issuing of documents specifying
how they should be named, led,
styled, signed off and issued.
The procedures, although
time-consuming to explain in
detail, are simple in principle.
Essentially authors follow a
rigorous set of standards, before
publishing their design into
a public space for access by
others working on a project. It
is labelled as a copy and cannot
be changed, but can be used
by others as the basis for their
work. They too produce their
own drawings and publish a copy
into the public space when they
are ready. Only the rms own
additions are published and the
original remains untouched.
Bentley Systems
www.bentley.com
billion pound Crossrail project in
London which has decided to go
full on for use of the standard. It is
already proving its worth and likely
to do so far more over the next few
years.
Although Crossrail is not a
highway project the system is
equally applicable to roads. And
at a recent seminar in London
looking at the system it was also
to maps and plan views of the
project he said in a location
based planning environment.
The map planning system, tying
Gant charts and other scheduling
to the map view is also a crucial
tool for following up work says
DynaRoad. If you follow up
just time it is not possible to say
how much of the work is actually
done, said Bck. For example it
on one site, a 50,000 m
3
cut was
planned for haul directly to a ll on
the other side of an existing road.
But due to heavy trafc it had to
go to a stockpile on the same
side. Rearranging the trafc was
needed to allow later haulage.
Without a location map the
error could easily have been made
of assuming that 50 000 m
3
had
been hauled on time, whereas
location based planning shows
when, how much and where work
was executed.
DynaRoad
www.dynaroad.
Bentley is also offering tailored version of its software for US
CAD standards, this time via the so-called NCS Workspace
for Civil. Designers can use the workspace to incorporate the
US National CAD standard (NCS) into the two widely used 3D
road design packages, InRoads or Geopak. The workspace
allows users to establish integrated standards to accommodate
corporate, discipline, project, client, and user needs and
preferences, according to the company. It makes standards
compliance easier and streamlines data exchange it adds,
which should lower costs throughout the project lifecycle.
US CAD standards
Work in progress earlier this year on a design, build and maintain road scheme between Mjlby and Motala in Sweden. Contractor
NCC Infra has utilised mass haul calculation and location based scheduling with DynaRoad from bid/tender planning to production
follow up. The project includes 28 km of new road eight intersections and 39 bridges of which the longest is 620m long
more formally a sketch pad with
a more rigorous tool. Autodesk
tool tackles that by providing a
means to both work up concepts
on an accurate canvas of the
proposed development area,
and then to provide them with
a landscaped and rendered
context.
The program can import
a variety of background and
contextual information drawn
from the whole range of sources
now available from map and
digital terrain models from the
Internet, Lidar surveys, rasterised
aerial photography, GIS data
and CAD. It has been developed
from the companys old Land
XML package and allows users
to bring together a fairly wide
range of data and information
in a variety formats to form the
foundation for exploring design
options. From these typical
starting points the program
can fuse the date to build up an
environment into which data on
buildings, street patterns and can
also be integrated.
With this material a basic 3D
model is created on which it is
then possible to draw a variety of
alignments and specied areas
with some fairly quick and easy
point, drag and click tools. With
a cabinet of styles these can be
transformed into various types
and widths of roads or railways,
easily changeable as required.
These road lines t
themselves into the
landscape, making cuttings
and embankments, inserting
bridges where needed to cross
valleys and giving a quick
indication of what a road will
look like in that position. They
can be dragged and moved
around for adjustments. Below
ground infrastructure can also
be added such as drainage or
other pipelines and power lines
can be placed above the road, by
drawing lines in the model or by
importing information from CAD
and GIS systems.
Alongside the road buildings
can be positioned either as
drawn outlines or as fully
designed structures imported
from programs such as
Autodesks Revit or other
programs and positioned by
dragging and dropping into
position. A series of tools allows
road lines, or railways, to be
sketched and perhaps moved
around on the environment,
automatically forming cuttings
and bridge crossings if the
terrain drops away or rises. The
alignments can be modied with
a variety of styles such as single
track or dual lane road with or
without pavements, or street
lights.
It is also possible to move the
model out into a more detailed
tool like Civil-3D to allow ne
adjustments to be made on some
of the elements, such as the
underground pipes, if required
explained UK Autodesk civil
engineering product specialist
Jack Strongitharm.All the 3D
data for the program is stored
in an SQLLite database which is
embedded part of the program,
he said. The result is a fairly
rapidly responsive program.
Other features like
The new Infrastructure Modeller
from Autodesk is a new tool which
aims to ll the gap in the design
sequence when ideas are being
explored and alignments tried out.
Before anyone sits down with
the powerful design tools now
available, be they BIM capable or
not, there is an early process in
design when these concepts and
alternatives need to be explored,
what-ifs worked through and
broad in principle decisions
taken. This is sometimes done
purely as a back of the envelope
exercise or with pencil on plans
and maps. Or it might be done
with general sketching tools which
have become available on the
Internet. But for infrastructure
like roads getting a realistic and
detailed impression of proposals
has still meant working them up in
the mainstream design packages
to produce models that can be
rendered and presented to clients
or other designers. It can use up
time on expensive systems and
needs detailed work. The program
is intended for the sketching and
conceptualisation replacing as it
were, the back of the envelope or
Modelling tool
A new tool just launched by Autodesk gives designers a precision sketching
tool for early concept and planning and then realistic visualisations
NEW SOFTWARE
Data from an array of
sources can be used
in Autodesks new
Infrastructure Modeller
design sketching package
NEW SOFTWARE
angle including below ground.
This makes it a very useful
tool for showing clients and
others the prospective design,
suggested Strongitharm.
But the quickness and ease
of the program is also highly
suitable for working through
multiple scenarios and what-ifs
and for functions beyond normal
road and highway planning.
You can use this for working
out temporary road patterns and
site layouts for rock festivals and
such events, he said.
If required the stored model,
which is held within an SQLite
database which is part of the
software, can be accessed from a
more complex program such as
Civil 3D where detailed elements
can be added or the sketchy
beginnings can be rened and
developed. Northern European
technical sales manager for
Autodesk John Allen said, It is
highly scalable and can deal with
very big datasets.
It is a tool that architects and
others can use to sketch in road
layouts around their projects
to set context and generate
initial thoughts. Beyond initial
thoughts, the compatibility of the
output with 3D modelling tools
like Civil 3D allows the initial
sketch to be imported along with
its background data. A much
more precise and detailed design
can then be worked up from
the initial idea. The program
costs substantially less than the
mainstream programs and will
undoubtedly nd a place. For the
moment the program is available
in English though other language
versions will follow. Likely
developments include a sharing
option via the Internet which will
allow remote users to modify or
discuss and comment on ideas.
Autodesk
www.autodesk.com
watercourses, vegetation, and
buildings can be placed into
the developing model which is
displayed as a 3D image. The tools
allow the sketching in of lakes and
water bodies, or perhaps forested
areas and these can be populated
with images of trees and other
objects to increase realism. The
program also allows underground
objects like pipelines to be placed
and has a transparency option to
let them be seen. The program
is aimed at those who either are
not concerned with, or are not
yet ready for detailed design and
allows fairly easy modication,
iteration and changes so that
various options can be explored,
assessed or explained to others.
From the opposite point of view,
areas which are protected by
environmental rulings for example,
can be imported in GIS form to
ensure they remain undamaged.
As with many other 3D
programs, the model when being
worked on or complete, can be
viewed by a y through from any
The program is
aimed at those
who either are
not concerned
with, or are not
yet ready for
detailed design
and allows
fairly easy
modication,
iteration and
changes so that
various options
can be explored,
assessed or
explained
to others
Celebrating 25 Years as the world
leader in noise mapping software.
KEEP A LID
ON NOISE!
Learn more SoundPLAN advantages.
Call or click today.
+1 360 432 9840
www.SoundPLAN.com
SoundPLAN noise modeling softwares detailed graphics
and comprehensive report capabilities help you:
- Keep organized
- 5ave money
- 5ave time
One model for all sizes eliminates
hidden costs and expensive upgrades.
Now featuring Google Earth interface
and full 3-D solid model view.
FREE subscription to
ITS International
Guarantee your copies of ITS International
by registering for FREE online @
l
Vol.17 Issue N
o.6 N
ovem
ber/D
ecem
ber 2011 w
w
w
.itsinternational.com

www.roplreg.com
I T S
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
V o l . 1 7
I s s u e
N o . 5
S e p t e m
b e r / O c t o b e r 2 0 1 1
The initial tool was developed
further by an independent house
and then bought some years ago
by Causeway, which has put
about four years of development
into it, said marketing manager
Barry Blake.
At the heart is the Volumetrics
module for inputting survey and
map data and outputting data,
in a variety of sources. PDS
Volumetrics is an open system
supporting all of the common
survey data formats including 2D
co-ordinates with textual level
data and digital models produced
by other software.
On top of that can be added
two modules for road alignment
design, which as well as the
original cut and ll capacities
include many features of
modern road design such as
DTM production contouring,
interactive horizontal and
vertical alignment, violation
checks against user dened
criteria, varying width single or
dual carriage ways and surface
analysis. This was intended to
be a more budget orientated
alternative to the well-known
MX, said Blake. It works
with user dened design and
parameter les.
The program also has some
parametric capacity he says.
It will also have dynamic
alignment editing and will
carry out automated updating
response to design changes.
By adding a second specically
highway design module to the
basic alignment design module,
complex roundabouts, slip roads
and split carriage ways can be
created. Transition curve design
also becomes possible.
A nal module, Layout
Design, allows sketching of
developments, carparks, local
road networks.
But drainage network
capabilities can also be added
in, via an agreement with Micro
Drainage WinDes, for which
Causeway is both seller and
reseller. The Micro Drainage
product itself is modular adding
additional capacities as needed
with a core module handling
storm, foulwater and combined
drainage, network development
and schedules for pipelines,
manholes and setting out data.
The road marking, sign
and swept path modules
are combined as Causeway
Trafc but are also separately
available. Just developed for
the software in version 18.1 is
a virtual reality drive through
representation of the design
model which runs in AutoCAD
or as a stand-alone. This can
be used for site meetings, design
explanation and collaboration,
client representations, and clash
detection, said Blake. It will
take in accurately information
from the sign module and show
you a physical representation of
the sign allowing you to check
its physical impact on other road
features for example he says.
For the moment the Causeway
software is marketed primarily in
the UK and areas used to British
based standards.
Causeway Technologies
www.causeway.com
The software modules are
designed to work in AutoCAD
but are also complementary
to the companys Professional
Design Suite (PDS) aimed at
highway and infrastructure
designers and nding
increasing use in small and
medium size rms. It is a
parametric string based design
tool for road corridor creation
and now with a number of other
modules associated with it.
The software is a modular
package based on software
originally developed for UK
contractor Laing for cut and ll
calculations on road alignments.
PDS suite expands in UK
A suite of tools for road lining work, sign creation to national standards and
vehicle swept path analysis has been launched recently by the Causeway
Technologies software group which also makes collaboration software
CAD
Causeway Technologies
offers an array of road
marking, sign and swept
path modules in its new
Causeway Trafc package
Highway layout is
placed in context with
geographic contours
CAD
We currently
have 220 third
party applications
listed on our
web site and are
in contact with
600 providers
altogether
Alternative CAD options
A number of alternatives exist,
at various levels, to the best
known mainstream design
and drawing packages. Some
compete across the board and
some are aimed particularly
at smaller rms and those
concerned about resources in
tough economic times. World
Highways rounded up a few.
The Bricsys software house
in Belgium has been making
headway in recent years with its
Bricscad and a new version v12
just released should help it move
forwards.
The major advantage we have
is that we work in a .dwg le
format environment, said creative
developer Sander Shearis,
which means that people using the
software do not have to swap le
formats when they move a drawing
on to do other work.
The software has the capacity
to create a 3D model from a 2D
layout directly without needing to
change programs he said, and is a
novel feature of the software. The
3D model remains in .dwg format.
Drawing in 2D in the basic
edition and 3D modelling in the
higher end Platinum edition can
be done with constraints, an
important new addition to the
latest v12 version of the software
launched in October.
It is a software add-in made
possible by the recent acquisition
of intellectual property rights for
a variety of software components
from Russian company LEDAS.
Among other things the Belgian
rms parent company Menhirs
bought LGS 2D, LGS 3D, Driving
Dimensions, RhinoWorks, and
other programs used by the
computer-aided design industry.
The 3D constraint solver
allows users to parametric 3D
constraints to edges, faces, and
to several types of 3D solids.
These are added to a constraint
control panel in a manner similar
to 2D constraints. Users can view
constraints in the model simply
by selecting them in the panel.
The new v12 also has a special
cursor tool that automatically
highlights lines, faces and other
features and which reduces
the number of clicks required
for 3D manipulation, he said.
Additionally the capacity of the
program to handle large raster
les has been greatly improved
said Shearis, And we have a new
pdf engine to allow a drawing to
be built up from an imported pdf
used as a background.
These features will improve
the Bricscad base program as
a platform for numerous third
party programs which Bricsys
has made a point of building
up, including a variety of road
focussed tools and additions.
These include among others
Autoterrain, DTM Software,
Sivan Designs CivilCAD road
design program and Swedish
Simtras swept path program
PathPlanner R4.
Two other swept path
programs come from Germanys
RZI Software offering EasyTrack,
and from Below software, the
latter also offers a variety of
other packages including street
layout planning using kerb
constraints. From the UK there
is Key TerraFirma with ground
Engineers using CAD and
other design technologies
now have many packages
to choose between
modelling, land survey and road
and 3D design.
And there is even a point cloud
plug-in which Indian software
publisher Sycode declared will,
give Bricscad the ability to
reconstruct the geometry of an
object from a point cloud.
We currently have 220 third
party applications listed on our
web site and are in contact with
600 providers altogether, said
Shearis. Very often these are
applications used internally by
a company for some specialised
purpose.
He said Bricsys tries to
encourage the add-ins and
provides a free API and
development kit, and a
copy of Bricscad too for free
so that they can test out their
application.
A lot of users are trying to
encourage smaller software
houses to port their applications
to Bricscad as well as the more
well-known platforms he says.
The cost of a Bricscad seat
is only 500 or so (750 for
Platinum) which is much less
than the mainstream programs
and so it allows smaller plug-
ins and add-ons to be run
economically whereas a
mainstream CAD program might
be three times the price of the
plug-in itself.
Bricsys
www.bricycs.com
DTM Software
www.dtmsoftware.com
Key TerraFirma
www.keycivil.com
RZI Software
www.rzi.de
Simtra
www.simtra.com
Sivan Design
www.sivandesign.com
Sycode
www.sycode.com
it was something to avoid on
further schemes.
To try and ensure a perfect
result on the latest scheme
Atkins is deploying a 3D
visualisation tool it has been
developing in-house for some
years. Based on widely available
gaming type software, it allows
the multiple components of the
design to be brought together
in a well-rendered three-
dimensional model.
The software then allows
an operator to drive anywhere
within the model to check on
sight lines, visibility and legibility
of signs and signals, all of which
are developed in software
packages to the appropriate
British standards and display the
correct lettering, colours and so
forth.
Importantly, the model allows
the eld of view of camera
positions to be checked out, for
road curvature, and for obstacles
including trees perhaps,
and particularly through the
additional road furniture being
added to the scheme.
The model is built from
various components, both 2D
drawings and 3D surface models
brought in from AutoCAD
and Microstation, Bentley MX
and drawings of services and
communications. We get all
kinds of input including PDFs
and historic data and convert
all that to 3D and match the
various elements in the model,
explained Phil Bromilow, a
technician with Atkins on the
project. Lighting is added too and
signage generated by AutoSign.
The model was developed
by Atkins inhouse team led
by IT specialist Hugh Woods,
using VRML, which is an easily
available virtual reality language.
Other types of software can
do this too and it is a rapidly
growing use of BIM technology.
But a key feature of the Atkins
model is that elements can be
adjusted on-the-y so that
major features can be moved and
adjusted to clear sight lines, or
perhaps camera positions can be
altered.
The virtual versions of the
gantries or cameras can be
clicked on and moved up and
down, or along the chainage,
said Bromilow.
This is highly useful in
meetings and discussions said
Dalley. There are plenty of
potential clashes. We have 25
new superspan gantries for signs
and equipment going across the
road, and another six long span
cantilever gantries for example.
Another dozen existing
concrete gantries and six existing
Work by joint venture
contractor BAM Nuttall and
Morgan Sindall will upgrade
the hard shoulders of the dual
three lane road to carry full
trafc loads, allowing them to
act as additional lanes at peak
trafc hours.
The conversion is the third such
scheme in England which has
elected to increase capacity on
particularly congested highways by
managed motorway installations
rather than widening the roads,
or building new parallel routes.
The solution avoids the expense of
full-scale reconstruction schemes,
needing costly new land take and
major works.
Managed motorways use a
complex of road instrumentation,
trafc ow measurement and
camera surveillance to monitor
the road use constantly and then
bring additional lanes into use
and back out as required by peak
trafc loads and speeds. To do so
there is an equally dense array of
trafc signalling, lane control and
adjustable speed limits, variable
message signs, and police and
road agency intervention.
A series of intermittent
emergency lay-by areas are added
to the road at 500m intervals,
to provide for breakdowns, and
surveillance for stopped vehicles or
obstacles is stepped up.
Fitting all this equipment into
the road and ensuring that it can
provide full visual coverage, and
that signs can be seen clearly, is a
major challenge for such schemes.
For a rst project on the M42
around Birmingham, the success of
which has led to further projects,
there were some difculties with
visibility and sight lines.
Particularly on curves it was
found there were a few gaps in the
visibility of the CCTV cameras,
said consultant Atkins senior
project manager for the M62 work,
Alan Dalley. Though not critical,
Interactive visuals for CCTV
A tailor made 3D visualisation system is being used by Atkins for a
controlled motorway scheme in the UK. A major contract began in
October to convert the M62 motorway in the UK to controlled trafc
operation and will run until 2013. The highway links the two large
northern cities of Leeds and Manchester, and is jammed solid at peak
times with both long distance and commuter trafc
VISUALISATION & SIMULATION
Trafc ow and road
maintenance issues
can be assessed
Details such as roadside
structures can be included
said. We can also help out the
contractor with some temporary
road layouts and the camera
positions for those, said Dalley.
The model is also capable of
being taken in to Navisworks he
said, which allows for automated
clash detection in a physical
sense, where components might
be overlapping. The Atkins
software is constantly evolving
says Bromilow who says the
language for it is relatively easy
to grasp, and works like Visual
Basic.
The 173 million (150 million)
upgrade scheme continues until
2013, in ve phases along a
25km section of the motorway,
beginning at Leeds and cascading
the works westwards. Phases will
overlap.
superspan gantries are being
refurbished.
Cameras have to be placed
in enough locations to give an
overlapping eld of view so that
any problems or breakdowns can
be spotted before switching to hard
shoulder running for example.
The software is operated in
meetings by Bromilow, though
he said it is fairly simple to alter
positions of items. It is serving
multiple purposes. Firstly it aids the
designers especially with line-of-
sight issues, because previously
this would have to be done with
2D plans. Any changes would be
painstaking and require altering
things and then going back to
examine how they worked, he
said. Repeated iterations could add
to time substantially.
But it is also very useful
for interactions with various
stakeholders he says, particularly
the police, road operations team
and emergency services who
worry about how the system will
feel and what obstacles it might
create for them. It is also good for
public consultation and especially
concerns about the impact of the
road changes, and even individual
concerns can be addressed he
The program provides an

effective visualisation tool
for underground utilities
An overview of the project gives
designers and engineers greater
understanding of the scale of the work
A series of
intermittent
emergency lay-by
areas are added
to the road at
500m intervals,
to provide for
breakdowns, and
surveillance for
stopped vehicles
or obstacles is
stepped up
residences, seven new city park
spaces and a new harbourside
walk.
The dramatic white wedge
form of the recently completed
Oslo Opera on the harbourside is
to be the rst part of a waterfront
cultural district as part of the
whole. By 2016 this should
have a new national library,
museums such as the Stenerson
and possibly a new home for the
paintings of Edward Munch, and
other buildings.
First part of the scheme is a
collection of some 12 medium
rise ofce and commercial
buildings, up to 22 stories high
between the railway and the new
road, known as the Barcode
development. They will open
onto the new Dronning
Eufemias gate boulevard.
This is a giant scheme in itself,
850m long and 47m wide with
three lanes each way for cars,
buses and bicycles, a central
reservation with a tramway in
the middle, and broad pavements
of 6m on the harbour side and
9m on the other.
They are intended to allow
pavement life to develop and
the broader side will get the
sun more, said Svein Red, the
scheme project manager from
the Norwegian Public Roads
Administration building the main
road developments through the
scheme.
A second length of road runs
out at a right angle alongside the
Park of the Middle Ages which
is a completed part of overall
city regeneration already here.
It includes historic buildings and
ruins from the founding of Oslo,
alongside a lake representing
the early medieval shoreline. A
network of smaller local roads
is also being taken out and
re-installed on a new pattern,
but this is the railway and the
citys remit and not the road
authoritys.
The new roads require a
complex phased construction
said Ian Markey, a Road
Administration engineer on the
project. The core element is a
1.6m deep road structure that
will sit on top of an enormous
pilecap, a kind of bridge all the
way along its length which will
be entirely piled. Some 45km of
piling will go in, both steel and
bored concrete.
The ground here is terribly
soft comprising alluvium,
centuries of old ll and even
large amounts of sawdust, said
Markey. The river which enters
the harbour here used to bring
felled timber to harbourside saw
and pulp mills which built ejected
waste for decades. During the
immersed tube construction
a 6m thick seabed layer was
discovered.
Past settlement has been
considerable, around 700mm on
some roads over just 15 years.
A major level difference with
the road would cause difculties
for the big developments
alongside and later for many
buildings to come on the harbour
side, said Markey. They will
also be piled too. For the road
alone, hundreds of piles will
drop to a rockhead 30m to 70m
deep. Above this the road will be
built up including a two rows of
special concrete boxes on either
side. These will be lled with soil
and planted with trees. Through
the pile forest underneath
meanwhile must pass a mass
of services including a large
new sewer collector line 2m in
diameter which is built by an
outside utility.
The shorter Medieval Park road
will not be in such a critical area
and instead of piles it is being
built with lightweight skimmed
glass aggregate, sitting on a
lightweight, almost oating, ll
which will be made by removing
a 3m depth of ground and
replacing it with polystyrene
foam block.
To coordinate these features
consultant Vianova is using its
own Novapoint Virtual Model to
draw together the information
from as many as sixteen
subconsultants, each feeding
design information via 3D .dwg
format les. Vianova is itself a
subconsultant to main design
rm Geovita.
The millimetre accuracy
y-through model displays
all the features of the project
from the rockhead prole below,
investigated by geotechnical
consultant Aas-Jakobsen, to the
Contractor Skanska Norway
broke ground in central
Oslo in early October on a
reconstruction of the central
harbourside highway that
until now has dominated the
Norwegian capital. Its 75
million (NOK 585 million)
multi-phased contract will
transform the eight lane
highway, which had slip roads
taking it to 14 lanes in places,
into a broad landscaped
boulevard. A new tramway will
run down the middle of the road.
Until now the highway, and the
railway and central station just
behind it, have completely cut off
the city from the broad waters and
picturesque island landscape of
Oslos stunning fjord location. But
the opening in September last year
of the new 600m long Bjrvika
immersed tube tunnel across the
harbour, part of an over-1100m
diversion, has taken away more
than 70% of trafc which used
to pass on the main E18 route
through the centre of the city, some
120,000 vehicles/day.
The station remains but along
with the removal of shipyards and
regeneration of old wood pulp
mills and other disused industrial
plots, the city now has a chance to
turn back to the fjord. Bjrvika,
a huge area of some 900 000m
2

is being completely restructured
and rebuilt by the government
and the city with a focus on
mixed developments of ofces,
Bjrvika redevelopment
A 3D integrated model using
Novapoint software is being used
for planning and design of the new
Bjrvika central development in Oslo
Norways capital is being
transformed with a new
road link carrying trafc
through a tunnel under
the city

The various elements are
georeferenced and follow a
component naming convention
that allows the model to
automatically recognise new
design features as they are added
he says. Once entered, it
rebuilds in about 20 minutes.
The update work is still
necessary in version 18 of
Novapoints road software suite,
though when the new version 19
based on a 3D database model
begins to mature, it will be
possible to use the Virtual Model
directly from the database, rather
than import and marry up the
data.
The model has been very
useful for planning and design
modication said Red. It gets
passed on to the contractor with
all the geometric details and he
can extract what he needs, he
said, though specic information
on reinforcement materials
specications and the like is still
extracted from drawings.
The next stage using the
model is to build representations
showing the various phases of
the construction and temporary
works. Keeping the trafc owing
during the rebuilding of the
road is a crucial element and
it will help with that and other
logistical aspects. There is the
impact of archaeology ahead of
construction to phase in as well.
The area has already proved rich
in medieval nds during tunnel
construction.
The phase models are being
done separately because there
are so many layers in the model
that to include all the information
in the main model would
create a gigantic visual clutter
said Fremnesvik. Currently he
is working on phase one and
expects to do other critical
phases from the 10. But those
can be built by copying the rst
phase and then altering it, he said.
The 75 million road project
will continue until 2015 when the
tram lines are due to go in and
the whole area will have been
regenerated by 2016.
Novapoint
www.novapoint.no
best starting point allowing a
visualisation to be created with,
millimetre accuracy, he said.
His current project has been a
simulation of a station in Hong
Kong for the mass transit system,
but he says the same principles
apply to highway structures.
In the test program users
are presented with a three
dimensional view of a station
which can be navigated using a
joystick, so that they can walk
through it, and see it exactly as
it will be. To make the experience
as immersive as possible, a three
screen display is used.
These tools are just an
extension of visualisation. But
the advance with this package is
apparent when the user is asked
to do tasks within the virtual
model, such as nding their way
to platform 3, or the ticket ofce.
They begin from a xed point and
can be timed, their hesitations
and errors in nding their way all
recorded.
Because the signage in the
model and the line of sight to
it, the spaces, the obstacles
such as ticket barriers, are all
represented accurately, they
can be modied and adjusted,
and the impact measured. The
designers get feedback from the
design output which can be used
to modify the input.
In this way visualisation is
not merely looking to mitigate
the worst effects, such as light
spillage on a highway, but to tune
a design for the best possible
experience, said Simondetti.
To make this work well, a
large number of users have
to be measured and perhaps
re-measured when adjustment
are made. That requires that the
system is easily accessible for
many measurements.
The software we are using
allows this to be done on
an ordinary portable laptop
computer, said Simondetti.
Effectively we are simply
publishing the BIM model in the
same way as a PDF publishes
documents. There is a variety of
software available to do that,
he said. The target is to put the
model onto the web so that
thousands of users, or more, can
provide input.
terrain surface and various parts of
the road structure.
Buildings and vegetation are
displayed, lighting and signs and
under road services. The sewer line
is there, buildings either in detail
or as outline for as yet unbuilt
structures on the harbourside, and
structures like an existing bridge
crossing of the railway. A new road
crossing at the end of the project
is also included which will allow
partial closure of the old one,
which is being dropped down to
ground level for half of its length.
All these different components can
be switched on and off for viewing
and understanding the design,
in progress meetings or for clash
detection.
There are 20 or so design
models that are brought together
and another dozen or so for
dening the scenery, said Vianova
road engineer Morten Fremnesvik,
who is tasked with coordinating
and updating the Virtual Model
from its various components, as
designs develop. He does this
alongside his main road design
work.
The use of interactive
visualisations built on 3D
design models has been
under development for some
time. They provide a way to
demonstrate projects and their
impact to the public, clients and
other parts of the construction
team and have been used in
public information displays for
major projects like the M1.
Multidisciplinary consultant
Arup has been taking the
concepts further using the
kind of software used in video
games and combining it with
data collection mechanisms.
The aim is to measure precisely
how a design works by seeing
how users respond to it. There
is a big difference between
simulating behaviour in a situation
and measuring real behavior,
said Alvise Simondetti who is
visualisation project leader at the
consultants London headquarters.
If you build an accurate enough
model with all the features of a
design within it, you can get users
to walk through it, or perhaps
drive through it, he explained.
Obviously the BIM model is the
There are 20 or
so design models
that are brought
together and
another dozen or
so for dening the
scenery
Morten Fremnesvik:
Vianova road engineer
Visualisation as design feedback
A portable visualisation tool developed by Arup is helping
designers get quantitative feedback into their designs
New technology has been
used in public information
displays for major projects
like the UKs busy M1
motorway
supported by visual cues such
as signs and road markings.
An interactive 3D virtual reality
simulation was seen as the
most efcient way to assess and
incorporate driver behaviour into
the design process.
The simulation needed to test
what type of signage would give
drivers an awareness of their
location and speed, as well as
a sense of the vertical gradient.
In addition, the highway signs
had to indicate clearly what lane
drivers had to be in to leave at
their desired exit.
The range of what-if driving
scenarios required a full 3D
visual interactive computer
simulation rather than simpler
animation. UC-win/Road
software was able to provide
a platform for real-time
simulation.
Visualisation software has
become widely used as a
technology for explaining
and publicising major road
and highway schemes both
to clients and to the public in
consultations and planning
inquiries. It has grown
increasingly realistic. But
increasingly visualisation is
nding practical application
to feedback into the design
process.
One major project has recently
been carried out in Tokyo for
example, using the increasingly
widely used 3D visualisation
software produced by Forum 8. Its
UC-win/Road software has been
extended into driving simulation
and this capacity made it highly
useful for an extremely complex
road junction in the Japanese
capital.
The extraordinary Ohashi
junction is a three way junction for
the greater Shuto Expressway and
it is congured as a multi-storeyed
spiral tunnel in the middle of the
urban landscape. The structure
allows designers to minimise the
space required for the complex
interchange but its highly unusual
conguration raised major
concerns about driver responses.
The junction comprises a
4-tiered spiral that drops in
elevation by about 70m and
drivers coming into it will drop or
climb a steep curve. While doing
that they have to decide rather
quickly the direction they will go
to access the highway. Designers
were concerned drivers would nd
locating the right exit to be too
difcult and this might be a hazard
to themselves and others. Signage
and road markings would be
critical to give visual cues.
To test out the options the team
turned to the consultancy side of
Forum 8 to run virtual driving trials
in realistic conditions using 3D
visual interactive drive simulation.
This difcult tunnel driving
environment was the impetus for
examining how drivers can be best
Driving simulation
for road design
An extraordinary junction in Tokyo has used 3D driving simulation to help its design
A new junction in Japans
capital Tokyo has beneted
from the use of novel
visualisation technology
during its design
Designers were able to
evaluate the behavior
of drivers navigating a
visualisation of how the
junction would look to
determine layout
The emergency exit
provisions were
thoroughly evaluated
Using the visualisation,
the designers investigated
how drivers would interpret
roadmarkings
The software originally was
used to visualise alternative
road designs but over a decade
has developed to include: 3D
CAD and digital terrain models;
environmental conditions; time of
day and season effects; and global
location.
Combined with trafc simulators
like S-Paramics and pedestrian
simulation it can show animated
trafc and human characters.
The visualisation has been
combined with driving simulator
hardware and software to mirror
vehicle dynamics of individual
cars, which allows not only
training but assessment of driver
behaviour.
For this project driving trials
were held in two series separated
by a period of six months. Subjects
were rst acclimatised to the
simulator with a sample road and
then pre-programmed scenarios
were used to expose subjects to
various stretches of the junction.
A variety of road markings,
signs and wall designs were
used. These included sidewall
signs in blue and red, triangular
wall surface markings, overhead
signs relaying exit distances and
overhead warning signs. The blue
and red road markings were used
to represent different exits off the
junction.
Logs of the drivers responses
as well as surveys were kept.
Each cars instantaneous position,
lane centre offset, speed, and
acceleration were extracted from
the simulator system. Surveys
asked participants about sign
visibility, clarity of exit directions,
and preferences for colour and
design.
Adjustments were made and
then tested in the second series
of trials. The outcome was
positive and designs have been
incorporated into the actual
junction a few months ago.
Forum 8
www.forum8.eu
www.forum8.com
A series of overviews allowed the design team to look at the entire project in detail
and what software tools might
be needed by contractors,
designers and the supply chain
is even more complex. As one
expert in the eld, UK consultant
to software producer Bentley
Systems Phil Jackson said, there
is a kind of fog around the
subject and a host of competing
denitions. At present what BIM
is really depends who you are in
the construction chain and what
you want to do with the software
tools, he said.
So, variously, it can be seen
as a 3D design tool; a tool for
multi-disciplinary collaboration
in design; a tool for collaboration
in construction, bringing
various subcontract disciplines
together to coordinate work; a
planning and sequencing tool;
a clash detection tool for both
spotting overlaps in physical
space and in project sequencing;
a communication tool for
engineers to speak to each other
and also to the client; a publicity
tool using visualisations; an
information transfer tool,
which is possibly one of the
most important aspects; a life
cycle information tool where
the greatest benets could be
achieved; a design costing tool
and construction nancing tool,
and importantly too, a health
safety tool allowing site works
to be run through and organised
with reduced risks.
Such a wide range of
functions, and others, is
inevitably hard to get a grip on.
It draws on and uses all kinds
of software from structural and
road design packages and data
federation tolls like Navisworks
to relational databases. But as
speakers at the Institution of
Civil Engineers conference in
London recently, were keen to
emphasise, it is not focussed
around particular kinds of
software or even the output from
software. One speaker, Rachel
Arulraj, the director of virtual
construction at US consultant
Parsons Brinckerhoff said that
the rm uses over 45 different
software tools to enable BIM.
Instead it is really about the
process of design, construction,
and maintenance. Building in
BIM is a verb, not an object, was
a point repeatedly made at the
ICE conference and that means
building roads as much as it does
ofce blocks. But despite that, to
grasp what BIM is, it is helpful
to focus on one type of software
to start with, which emerged in
the building and architectural
sector. This is the object-based
3D intelligent model.
Such models started as
computers exponentially grew
more powerful, and the increased
sophistication of CAD allowed
3D models of a structure to be
drawn. Pretty rapidly people
realised that this was not enough
and they needed software that
worked in object-based terms,
said Nick Nesbit, from AEC3,
an Anglo-German consultancy
specialising in BIM. He is also a
leading gure in the development
of international data standards
for BIM.
What that means is that a
3D design is not just adding a
Z coordinate to drawn lines,
but that there is a complete
reorganisation of the software to
use a set of parametric objects.
Such objects have all kinds of
properties and attributes. Most
of all they can relate to each
other, he said.
The archetypal programs of
this type are those like Revit,
now owned and developed
by AutoDesk in two avours:
for architecture and for civil
structures, or the equivalent
Bentley Architect, ArchiCAD and
others. In these, designers use
objects they set up and dene
themselves, or draw in from a
library, or as the market develops
even from outside sources like
manufacturers.
To a greater or lesser extent
these will automatically, or with
changes to the dimensions, self-
t into a structure. A window
for example will have adjustable
dimensions and information
After half a decade of
slow development in road
engineering, everyone suddenly
wants to talk about Building
Information Modelling: the
use of electronic models in
construction. Consultants
have got BIM champions,
software sellers are branding
their products upfront as
crucial BIM tools, and clients
are beginning to insist on BIM
deliverables. These include
some governments, notably
in Scandinavia, Australia, and
lately the UK, and various
states and federal bodies in
the US such as the US Corp of
Engineers. Others are working
on it too.
The reason for this according
to numerous experts in the eld is
partially technological and partially
economic. BIM offers major
efciencies in the construction
process at a time when the
economic crisis is making that
vital, competition is growing
and clients becoming ever more
demanding. And meanwhile the
maturing of the software products
has reached a critical mass point,
said Adam Mathews, European and
Middle East business development
manager for AutoDesk, one of the
sectors leading vendors.
But pinning down just what
BIM is, and is not, is more
complex than it might appear.
Understanding what is required
BIM takes off
Information modelling for roads and highways is taking off.
But why now, and what is it anyway? Adrian Greeman
BIM
Using BIM effectively
offers major efciencies
in the construction
process at a time when
the economic crisis is
making that vital
BIM
designing overhangs on bus or
train platforms. But they might
indicate future development.
Novapoint in Norway is
making more head-on progress
towards full BIM with a new
version of its road design suite
being built around object-based
principles and a full 3D model
held in a database rather than as
design les (see box). It could be
the rst civil engineering Revit.
Even in the structural sector
there are advances to be made in
object-based software before the
full concept is realised.
But attaining this level does
exhaust what BIM is by any
means, far from it. Many other
elements of what a full 3D model
will allow can be done now,
and by different means. Some
of these have taken on a life of
their own which is now almost
more important than the original
design function of the models.
As a result BIM has expanded
away from the design sector
into the complete construction
chain. It is no longer lonely
BIM but collaborative BIM,
said AutoDesks Mathews. A nal
stage will be, whole life BIM,
he said, when the model data is
seamlessly passed on into the
asset management stage.
First of the additional aspects
is the use of a single model as a
repository for the design work of
others to be added to. It becomes
a single source of truth for
data and measurements and the
location where all the elements
of a design gradually build up,
which allows different designers
to coordinate and work together
collaboratively. Using the ability
of a three dimensional model
to be represented on screen,
visualisations can be made which
are millimetre accurate and allow
clashes to be spotted, and the
design outcome to be rethought
after walking or driving a virtual
construction.
The cumulative appending of
design data to the model objects
which are dened to allow
such additions, - also becomes
one of the most important new
capacities of BIM, because the
design intent can be carried
over to the construction phase
said Richard Shannon, BIM
Champion for UK international
consultant Mott MacDonald. By
querying the model, information
can be provided to reduce site
errors, and reduce RFIs.
Even more importantly, the
data is carried on to the eventual
commissioning and operations
phase of a project. Not just
design data is added; during
construction further details are
added in, such as reinforcement,
and perhaps for the rst time
even completely accurate as
built data. It all constantly
feeds back into the design
model as well perhaps allowing
adjustments to reect the FM
teams requirements better.
Other information is easily
added as well such as specic
details about components like
drains or lampposts, beyond
simply their alignments and
dimensions. Each item can have
its own particular serial number
recorded and with that a host
of information about what it is,
where it was made and which
batch, what maintenance it
about properties such as thermal
insulation capacity.
It will also be moveable and
as it is dragged and dropped,
a walls and corners will heal
themselves, with a space made
elsewhere to accommodate the
object. Offsets and clearances will
be seen too.
An equivalent program in civil
engineering would see perhaps the
capacity to select a roundabout
from a pallet of junctions which
could be dropped into position,
said Mark Bew, technical director
at consultant URS-Scott Wilson in
the UK and a leading gure in the
British governments BIM working
party. It would automatically
connect onto the road and all
necessary cut and ll would be
done.
Object based design is the Holy
Grail, he said and others agree.
Arulraj for example said, Full BIM
will mean programs where objects
will have attributes.
That is some years off. Major
problems have to be sorted out,
not least in international setting
of standards for what objects are,
what information they should
contain and so on. Software has to
develop.
The international Building
Smart groups have done major
work producing such specications
which are known as Industry
Foundation Classes, or IFCs,
which are not proprietary software
specic. But they are not well
dened in the infrastructure sector.
Most vendors do not yet include
them, said Nesbit.
Road design programs like
Inroads or Bentley MX, have
long had three-dimensional
surfaces and can cut through
these and calculate road cuts
and embankments. They are data
based and volumes and quantities
can be produced. But the objects
within them do not know what
they are. Even Autodesks Civil
3D which is partly constructed
along object lines, and can quickly
readjust and rebuild alignments
and all the elements attached to
them when they are dragged and
moved, is not an object-based
program in the full sense.
But pay attention, said UK
Autodesk civils expert Jack
Srongitharm, We have recently
introduced a new category of items
to its design libraries called solids
which are a bit more than lines and
surfaces. Currently solids deal with
a specic design problem such as
Road design
programs like
Inroads or
Bentley MX, have
long had three-
dimensional
surfaces and can
cut through these
and calculate
road cuts and
embankments.
They are data
based and
volumes and
quantities can
be produced
Causeway says that its latest
software package offers
intelligent 3D modelling
capabilities and powerful
integration functionality for
civil engineers. Called the
Professional Design Suite
(PDS), the package is said to
cover all aspects of earthworks
design and quantication,
development site infrastructure
design and highway design.
Modules are available for digital
modelling, alignment design
and drainage design. The latest
generation also features a visual
reality module that generates
walk-throughs and y-throughs
within just a few minutes of
nishing a design.
The digital modelling BIM
capabilities of PDS include
borehole modelling, calculations
from multiple models, automatic
generation of formation models
and quantities, storage pond
modelling, dynamic cut and
ll analysis and surface design
tools. These are combined
with horizontal and vertical
route alignments, intelligent 3D
junction design and dynamic
integration with micro drainage.
When the design is complete
the visual reality module
uses gaming technology to
generate designs faster than
with conventional methods.
Causeway has also made a free
viewer available to help clients
view the designs.
PDS is said to be intuitive
to use and can be learned with
minimal training and with no
requirement for specialist CAD
skills. PDS users, who include
the majority of the UKs top
100 consulting engineers,
typically report time-savings of
50% compared to traditional
methods.
Causeway
www.causeway.com
Innovative BIM package
being carried out more and more

by software. One thread of this
development is the consistent
naming and organisation of
documentation to rules of
military precision, which is
particularly represented by the
UK standard, BS1192(2007).
A tailored version of Bentley
Systems ProjectWise works to
this.
Another major aspect of BIM
models is that they incorporate
design work and information
from a host of different
disciplines in the one place, all
coordinated with each other and
again BS1192 2 procedures help
achieve this.
But perhaps the killer app for
this is Autodesk Navisworks, and
to some extent equivalent tools
like Bentley Navigator which all
bring together disparate designs
in one place for virtual model
display, matching les or in
Bentleys case holding them in a
single container. Novapoint has
its Virtual View module which
draws road surface, lighting,
signage, drains, cabling and
lighting all into one model.
By federating data, matching
up assorted 3D models and
requires, and so forth, all sitting
in the model. Delivering this
accumulating information in the
BIM model to the client, means
that projects will arrive with their
own very specic electronic user
manual. Data can then be fed
directly into maintenance and
facilities management, beginning
to realise the dream of whole life
cycle design and construction.
Many of the experts spoken to
by World Highways put this aspect
of BIM development at the top of
the list. It is being driven especially
by the rise of design-build-operate
and perhaps own, contracts.
The point of BIM in the end is
outcomes, said Shannon. The
client is interested in a better
product and saving money.
Part of that is better
understanding of the design,
which can be created in
virtual form for discussion and
modication, so that client-
designer misunderstandings and
misdirected expectations can be
eliminated, and with them the
need to change or re-do projects
later.
But the biggest savings come in
the use and maintenance lifespan
of the project. Building up facilities
management or road pavement
maintenance information and
data is expensive and if much of
it is present at the start, including
manuals, serials and place of
manufacture for components,
substantial effort could be saved.
Rescans and resurveys which are
routine now, could be ruled out.
At present, said Shannon, by
the end of a project everyone is
tired or looking to move on. So the
data, if it is passed on at all, comes
as a great pile of photocopies and
scraps.
But the rigorous accumulation
of electronic data which an object
model facilitates, can also be done
now with existing design and other
software tools, even without the
object-based model.
Developing a system to collect
data and its attachment to design
drawings and models is already
in train. In the United States
a protocol called COBie, the
Construction Operations Building
information exchange has been
originated by the US Corp of
Engineers which sets out how
and what information should be
gathered and presented in a text
based form and it is gathering
momentum. The UK government
is building part of its own BIM
strategy on COBie for example.
Early stages of BIM see this
information collection running
in parallel with 3D design work,
with the capacity to automate it
BIM
The two lane Crussell Bridge
in Helsinki, opened in June
this year was a complete BIM
project by design consultant
WSPs Finnish operation. The
complex 175m long dual span
assymetric cable stay structure,
which links Ruohalahti and
Jtksaari on the western
shore of the city centre and
carries vehicle trafc as well as
having facilities for cyclists and
pedestrians will also feature a
tramway in the future. The City
of Helsinki was the client and
it was built by the contractor
Skanska Civil.
WSP used a BIM set up for
both concrete and steel design
of longitudinally pre-stressed
concrete beams including time
and management dimensions.
It was the consultants rst
experience of modelling
concrete with reinforcement.
The bridge was a pilot for
both WSP and the client, and
also software provider Tekla
Corporation via its bridge
design software, which has
been further rened as a result
of the scheme.
Teklas software is one of the
few true BIM products around,
believes WSP infrastructure
BIM leader David Stone, in
as much as it uses a full data-
object methodology.
Client, designers, contractor
and major subcontractors all
used the same primary BIM
tool and the construction
model was published on the
WSP server. Extensive use was
made of the BIM model for the
fabrication of steel girders and
concrete reinforcement, for
monitoring and management
of the supply chain of
fabricated components, for
formwork and temporary
support structure design, for
quality control using laser
scanning and for construction
planning using 4D animation.
Tekla Software
www.tekla.com
Twin lane structure
The new Crussell Bridge in Finnish
capital Helsinki was a complete
BIM project by WSP and was built
by Skanska, while the structure
improves connectivity to the western
shore area of the city - image
courtesy of WSPs Nicola Evans

BIM
Atkins, have been using it on the
huge widening and upgrade to
Londons M25 ring motorway in
advance of the Olympic Games.
This is only partly down to
the software, Philp underlined.
A lot more of BIM is through the
procedures and methods that the
software facilitates.
For this physical side
of construction these site
coordination aspects are more
or less what they mean by BIM
at present, highlighting Phil
Jacksons point that BIM has
multiple meanings for different
participants.
A further element that feeds
into BIM at present is the general
coordination of design work
construction management and
project managements, again
around BS1192. Stuart Spencer,
Bridge Information Model
manager for Bentley Systems
says the importance of that can
be overlooked.
But others underline the fact
that BIM has grown to embrace
a lot more than software and
object-based design models.
It is a transformation in ways
of working, believe many in the
industry. It is very challenging,
said Jeff Stephens, a technology
manager at the UK construction
division of French rm Vinci,
and will be a disruptive change.
So important is it that the UK
government has set up a ve
year programme to introduce
BIM working, drawing on these
elements. The aim is to draw
all rms, including the trailing
edge of smaller supply rms and
subcontractors, into using the
technology.
Bew, who chaired the working
party which advised the British
Government, said that the
aim is to achieve the use of
assorted types of existing 3D
modelling softwares, along with
electronically managed le based
collaboration, by 2016. The so-
called Level 2 BIM in a hierarchy
dened by the working group
which ends with the Holy Grail
level 3, of object-based systems
in which all the data, both spatial
and textual is held in one place.
The way that has to be
achieved is left open in the
British strategy to avoid
plumping for any particular types
of software. But a key element
is the interoperability of data
transfer, probably around IFC
standards, and the development
of COBie.
Level 3 itself is still a future
vision and there are some in
the eld who argue it can be
achieved without producing the
all-encompassing single model,
which could become so large
it is unwieldy. Federating the
data may be all that is needed
say some, with advances in the
kinds of programs that bring in
disparate data. Others are more
certain the way to go is the
object-based model, including
Bew. Norway and Finland are
both already well advanced
on that path, and Norways
government already requires
delivery of models built around
IFC standards.
Software producer Novapoint
has been working on the
development of a database
mediated 3D model software for
about six years and is about to
launch a rst version. This will
tie in with a giant model held by
the Road Administration itself,
to which future projects will be
added, gradually building up
a single representation of the
countrys entire road network
and the terrain around it.
The Norwegians say this is not
unwieldy because any particular
designer will only check out
as much of the database as he
needs for his project. But he will
have access to all the past data
on the road system, saving huge
amounts of survey and other
work.
Finland too is heading in this
direction. For buildings, the
government property agency has
been requiring the submission
of BIM models since 2007, again
with inter-operability achieved
through using IFC, said Jaakko
Jauhainen, sales director for
Solibri which makes software
to verify BIM models and their
rich information content before
submission.
The standards for
infrastructure are less well
developed but are on the way
too, he said.
One of Solibris big markets is
the US which is pushing ahead
with BIM usage. Several DoTs
are now passing 3D models on
directly to contractors for use
in machine guidance systems,
another major area of BIM
development.
BIM is an idea whose time has
come, a speaker told the London
ICE conference. It seems so.
Autodesk
www.autodesk.com
Bentley Systems
www.bentley.com
Novapoint
www.novapoint.no
sometimes 2D drawings as
well, into a single view around
a common reference, these
programs replicate elements of
what a full object BIM model will
do and allow several key aspects of
BIM working to be carried out.
Top of the list is clash
detection and it is no surprise
that the automated detector for
overlaps and spatial intrusions in
Navisworks, which alone can save
tens of thousands of dollars, if not
millions, in avoiding later physical
conicts, comes only in the
premium version of the program.
But Navisworks in its viewing
capacities has particularly taken
off for contractors and on-site
construction. Its ability to show the
various elements of the design in
a single walk through visualisation
has been proving invaluable for
site meetings, design exploration,
subcontractor coordination,
construction sequence run-
throughs, and spatial planning for
detailed site operations.
It helps that although
federating all the data requires
the full program the result can
be displayed in a free viewer,
said major UK and international
contractor Balfour Beattys
technical manager, David Philp.
Using the virtual views, drainage
installers can make clear that they
do not have sufcient working
space, or concreters that the skip
will not be able to lift over nearby
falsework.
Extending Navisworks value
for on-site work is the capacity to
create sequence simulations and
attach them to a timeline which
can be run through with a slider.
Further dimensions of nancial
costings such as payments
received against outgoings, and
lately the carbon usage of a
project, are growing in importance
too.
Other programs can add to
these capacities too. Synchro for
example can link a 3D visualisation
to Gant charts, and to Primavera
or Microsoft project manager
timelines and calendars, and
can allow quick resequencing of
operations by dragging out critical
path elements and so forth, with
the result reected in the 3D view.
Some major contractors worldwide
are taking to this.
One important aspect of this
type of program is emphasised by
Balfour Beatty and that is safety.
Philp says that pre-visualisation
has a major impact on safety for
complex sites, allowing virtual
construction to be carried out
and obstacles to be identied
before anyone can get hurt. The
contractor, and partner consultant
Software producer
Novapoint has
been working on
the development
of a database
mediated 3D
model software
for about six years
and is about to
launch a rst
version
BIM
Estonian company Nordecon,
founded in the transition to a
market economy in 1989 has
been a major user of Autodesk
software as it has gone from
a small early start into one
of the countrys major civil
engineering contractors.
European money has helped it
grow particularly as investment
in modern infrastructure has been
made, but like everywhere else
the credit crunch of 2008 has seen
competition grow tougher.
As part of its strategy to compete
and keep up, the company has
been making good use of modern
software and particularly the
AutoCAD Civil 3D package with its
core 3D parametric design model,
which Autodesk claims as the,
building information modelling
solution for civil engineering.
According to Marek Suviste,
head of the companys design and
geodesy division, this together
with AutoCAD Map 3D has helped
his team optimise designs quickly,
saving time in coordinating and re-
coordinating subsequent changes.
Suviste added that a benet of the
software is that design data is kept
in one le with the documentation.
Each is linked to the other.
This is far simpler than using
other software where the design
elements and documentation are
kept separately, often causing
coordination problems and
bottlenecks, he said.
The company also has one
licence of Novapoint software
which the team use on top of
AutoCAD.
The Autodesk software was at
the centre of work on a recent road
project, sections of the E263. It is
Estonias longest road running from
the capital Tallinn to Tartu and
eventually onto Riga in Latvia.
The three-year project,
completed last year, includes the
Mo intersection, a 6.2km section
of two-way road with two lanes
both ways, a 4.5km section of light
trafc road, four overpasses and a
For contractors a large part
of the interest in BIM is in
planning and managing site
operations and sequences of
tasks, using the 3D model to
visualise and coordinate site
operations, placing and use
of equipment and so on.
Time lining a gradually
developing site can be done
in Navisworks bringing in a
matching various 3D design
element models. But a tool
designed specically for this
aspect has been increasingly
taken up, namely Synchros
Project Constructor.
It is described on its website
specically as a 4D construction
visualisation, project scheduling,
advanced risk management tool
which can synchronise with 3D
design changes, supply chain
management and cost allocation
for comprehensive virtual
construction simulation.
The software, developed in
the UK originally by a project
management company is a kind
of hybrid between scheduling
software such as Primavera, now
part of Oracle, or Microsofts
project manager, and a 3D
display program.
Its interface shows users three
or more displays, one a listing of
Scheduling advance
Estonian road project
East European contractor Nordecon has been moving towards
BIM methodology to improve efciency, such as a recent road
project in Estonia according to software specialist Autodesk
bridge over the Vodja River.
Few projects come without
their own challenges and this
one was no exception. As Suviste
explained, Nordecon wasnt
the rst to take on this work it
had been attempted before, but
because of the low-lying nature
of the road, it was permanently
covered with water.
Consequently the team rst
had to design a dewatering
system before they started. To
do this they used a proprietary
Estonian program together with
AutoCAD Civil 3D. Because the
local software was designed to
sit on the AutoCAD platform, this
was straightforward, he added.
The road itself was modelled
in AutoCAD Civil 3D. Via its
capacity to automatically
readjust the team could visualise
their designs and then test and
analyse them as if they were the
real thing.
The software easily manages
and coordinates changes,
allowing experimentation with
various iterations of the design
without the huge amount of
work this would once have
entailed. For example, during this
project, engineers were able to
compare the impact of different
road surfaces on the design and
analyse their durability.
They were also able to
calculate accurately all volumes
of materials needed from the
model. The software recalculates
these every time a revision is
made, so there is always an
accurate gure available. In
this way cut and ll can be
balanced as closely as possible
to avoid unnecessary labour and
resources.
Despite the economic squeeze
Suviste said that there is still a lot
of work needed for infrastructure
in the region and he hopes that
EU money will help maintain
the momentum. But competition
for work is bound to be strong.
However, with the software
we are condent that we have
the competitive edge, he
concluded.
Autodesk
www.autodesk.com
BIM
tasks and sequences, one a Gant
like timelining and the third a 3D
window in which a stylised design
model is displayed.
The schedule is either created
in Project Constructor itself or can
be imported from a scheduling
program such as Primavera; the
3D model is built up by importing
a wide range of formats such as
dwg. Like Navisworks, Synchro
can spatially coordinate various
les to show a complete image
built up from a variety of matched
design les.
A navigation cube allows this
model to be rotated and viewed
from assorted angles above and
below.
By making sure that proper
naming conventions have been
followed for the model the
elements of construction in the
time chart above can be tied to the
model so that as the construction
schedule is run through, the 3D
model below displays the various
stages of construction.
These stages can be easily
changed in the timeline by
dragging the schedule blocks
to and fro or expanding and
contracting them. According to
Synchro marketing manager John
Razzle, this is a simple and quick
way of rescheduling without
having to build the timeline all
over. If the schedule is changed
then the new path through the
project can be saved as a variant
on the original schedule which
is saved initially as a baseline
schedule. In this way you can
adjust the schedule and what
differences have been made,
he said, which either allows
you to see the actual schedule
against the planned schedule, to
modify according to as on site
realities, or to carry through what
if changes very quickly, on the y
almost.
Two versions of the 3D model
and their associated timelines are
displayed at once. More baseline
variants can be saved too and
brought up for comparisons.
The model allows a very
visual display of scheduling that
can be used in site and project
management discussions to
explore options or quickly measure
the impact of delays. Using a
free downloadable viewer the
models and schedules can also
be looked at elsewhere, perhaps
to keep a client in touch, or for
bidding purposes when clients are
interested to know how things are
going to be done.
By adding on construction
equipment components, the
impact of where hoists and
cranes are placed, or asphalting
equipment or concreting crews,
can be more easily grasped. A
new feature of the software is
the so-called Pathnder that
will describe the route of some
equipment through the site and
importantly the timing of its
passage.
The software allows you
to pick up clashes between
elements on site but it has an
additionally important capacity
to nd time-related clashes
explained Razzle. So it will tell
you for example that moving a
mobile crane into position might
be impossible at a particular
moment or only before or after
particular operations.
The software for the moment
could be described as part of
Level Two BIM but has enormous
potential to pick up on the
development of softwares using
full object descriptions and the
potential world of object based
modelling. It will import from
Revit currently for structures and
recognises IFC formats.
Synchros CEO Tom
Dengennis, emphasised that
although the tool overlaps to
some extent with Navisworks it
is complementary rather than
doing the same design review
job and there are moments
when the schedule is sufciently
stable that a timeline built in
Navisworks is the right thing.
The design review could also
be done with Bentleys Navigator
he added, and Synchro has a
relationship with Bentley as
well as with Autodesk. But
for exibility and changes to
sequences on site this is much
more the right tool, focused on
the delivery process. It can divide
up a concrete or asphalting
area into smaller sections for
scheduling quite easily for
example.
Equally he says that the
timelining does not replace the
full scheduling and programming
of Primavera, but works with it.
Synchro will also display
a graphical view of cost
information on site and value
earned; it can also create user
dened windows to graphically
display other data. One such was
used to display volume of storage
space used at any one moment
in a site laydown area which had
a very limited capacity.
The program is being used
on some very large projects
including airport development in
Los Angeles, the Shard high rise
in London and others. Razzle
added that it is equally suitable
for highway work.
Autodesk
www.autodesk.com
Bentley Systems
www.bentley.com
Synchro
www.synchroltd.com
The model allows a very visual display of scheduling

that can be used in site and project management
discussions to explore options or quickly measure
the impact of delays. Using a free downloadable
viewer the models and schedules can also be looked
at elsewhere, perhaps to keep a client in touch, or for
bidding purposes when clients are interested to know
how things are going to be done
A demonstrator using trafc
simulators to predict trafc
volumes just a short time
ahead is being used in
southern California to try
and deal with the growing
complexities of highway
management on a network
system. By predicting
possible snarl ups, and then
allowing different mitigation
strategies to be run through
simulations very quickly, the
right actions can be selected
to ease the impact, it is hoped.
Even that ultimate of car
countries the US recognises
that it cannot simply expand its
infrastructure forever in order
to deal with congestion and
growing demand. Better ways
of using highways are important
and the more so as funds for
new roads dry up in the current
economic conditions.
The trial system which
currently covers a 35km long
stretch of the I-15 interstate
highway into San Diego, is
part of both a California state
initiative and a wide federal
program to investigate and
develop concepts of Integrated
Corridor Management. The San
Diego project is one of two full-
scale ICM system trials selected
by the US Government along
with one in Dallas, Texas.
The experiments aim to deal
with two interrelated problems.
The rst is bringing together the
sometimes competing interests
of different transportation
authorities, highway control
authorities such as the state
police, and modes of transport,
with an overall aim of
transferring demand to public
and mass transit.
We have at least seven bodies
involved here, said the technical
manager for the project Peter
Thompson. He works for a
unifying authority which in itself
is part of bringing together the
disparate parties, the San Diego
Association of Governments
or SANDAG. It includes the
large San Diego city authority
and two smaller cities, each
with their own local networks
to control and feed into the
Microsimulation
highway control
TRAFFIC CONTROL
The Aimsun Online system from TSS-Transport Simulation Systems is helping
develop coordinated trafc management on a major highway in southern California
Above: Aimsun Online is on
trial over a 35km section of
I-15 in California image
courtesy of Josefredo Soto
Left: Aimsun Online allows
trafc operators to access
the outputs of server-based
simulations
Disaster modelling
for tunnels
TRAFFIC CONTROL
quick judgement to deal with an
emergency. The task is to assess
what overall effect various trafc
factors have on the whole system
and to take judgements that are
best for the entire network, said
Thompson.
But there are so many interacting
factors to assess that they can
rapidly get out of hand. The
complexities are too much for the
human brain, pointed out the
president of TSSs US subsidiary
Alex Gerodimos. On the I-15
alone there are 137 junctions,
exits and on ramps to control.
It means that responses are
nearly always reactive, dealing
with congestion and peaks as
they happen.
The overall project aims
to come up with a so-called
decision support system (DSS)
which can draw together the
information from the various
electronic and human systems,
and devise the best solution for
the overall system. It would also
be proactive.
A critical component of that
is a trafc simulation for the
system that takes in data from
the multiple elements of the
highways control and monitoring
systems. It then gives us a
view 15 minutes ahead, said
Thompson, a time span that has
been selected as the minimum in
which reasonable response can
be made.
This running microsimulation
can warn of difculties building up.
A second use of microsimulation
then comes into play to run
various preset sets of strategies
for dealing with known patterns
of trafc. With multiple instances
running, various options can be
explored in a few minutes.
This use of simulation builds
on experience TSS has developed
up in earlier projects, starting
with one around Madrid.
For the San Diego work said
Gerodimos, the Aimsun Online
product is being used, with trafc
operators querying a server
based simulation via a simplied
browser-based interface. This is
currently being congured and
calibrated against the specic
inputs from the I-15.
The standard package of
Aimsuns microsimulator, its
macroscopic trafc ow tool and
the intermediate mesoscopic
tool, remains one that is used at
desktop or workstation level by
trafc engineers, according to
Gerodimos.
The whole San Diego project
will go live for an 18 month trial
run at the end of next year. If
successful the aim is to extend it
to cover much bigger networks.
TSS-Transport Simulation Systems
www.aimsun.com
and pedestrian simulation
program with other data about
an environment. In particular it
has been looking at tunnels and
bridges in the event of a disaster.
The problem for existing
software is that the individuals
being simulated are not really
aware of the effects of a disaster
such as heat and smoke, said
PTV trafc engineer and project
manager Dr Georg Mayer.
Although the software can
indicate that they have to
evacuate an area and the way
they do it can be programmed,
such factors as reduced visibility
of exit signs, or the rise in
temperature caused by re, are
ignored, he said, adding that
the individual simulation units
simply carry on through thick
smoke or re, always looking
for the shortest path.
And there is another
problem, he said. People are of
different types psychologically
some will panic, some will ee
and others try to behave calmly.
But that may cause the wrong
response. In tunnel res for
example some people thought
it rational not to run and get
lost but wait to be rescued. But
it is the wrong thing and they
have been killed that way,
he said quoting research from
the German Federal Highway
Research Institute. Some 42% of
people in surveys thought they
would have more time to escape
than they had in reality, he added.
A two year German
government research programme
in conjunction with universities
like Stuttgart and Wrzburg
highway, the state administration
for the main highway, the police
highway patrols, and mass transit
authorities.
Each may want to take decisions
to optimise their own local trafc
ows or conditions, but what might
be good for the town of Escondido
further north might have an
adverse impact on the highway,
or the way ows surge as they exit
into San Diegos system.
On top of that decisions are still
reactive, dealing with incidents as
they occur, said Thompson. The
aim is to try and get to proactive
management.
But this brings in the second
issue. Complex technical
interactions of different control
systems themselves can create
new problems. California,
unsurprisingly, has been well
advanced in using monitoring
cameras, ramp metering, VMS,
trafc signals, high occupancy
vehicle lanes, toll lanes, and
dedicated transit or bus lanes as
ways to inuence and control
trafc patterns and densities.
Nearly all of these are present on
the I-15, and on the feeder roads
around, which is one reason why it
makes a good test bed project. But
while these and other technologies
are all partial solutions they
each impinge one on the other.
Interactions are difcult to sort out,
especially when trying to make a
Car and pedestrian simulation
software is now well advanced.
But trying to model the real
world more accurately remains
a constant issue.
One approach being explored
by consultant and software house
PTV in Germany is to combine
the working of its Vissim car
The task is to
assess what
overall effect
various trafc
factors have on
the whole system
and to take
judgements that
are best for the
entire network
The German
consultant PTV,
maker of Vissim
microsimulation
software, has been
exploring ways to
model disasters and
res in tunnels
The problem for
existing software
is that the
individuals being
simulated are not
really aware of
the effects of a
disaster such as
heat and smoke
Dr Georg Mayer:
PTV trafc engineer
and project manager
department is added in. The

team of Professor Dr Paul Pauli
and Professor Dr Andreas
Mhlberger at the University
of Wrzburg has developed a
psychological model showing
how people react to the specic
conditions in case of a tunnel
re, said Dr Tobias Kretz,
VISSIM Product Manager at
PTV Germany and pedestrian
simulation expert.
The Schutz kritischer Brcken
und Tunnel im Zuge von Straen
(SKRIBT) project is aimed at
better risk assessment for major
road projects and particularly
tunnels and major bridges. The
point is to understand what
happens in emergencies much
better and allow engineers to
design and layout the schemes
more effectively to account for
the risks.
Factors like switching on VMS
signs and the messages they
carry can be studied for their
impact for example.
Setting up the system has been
a two year exercise said Mayer,
and quite difcult, to ensue
interfaces between the complex
pieces of software and to model
in the psychological decision
factors.
It produces a fairly complex
computer interface, he admitted
with a laugh, and there are
probably only half a dozen
people who can use it easily at
present.
A second phase of the work
just starting now is to try and
rene the model and to make the
set-up much easier, the visual
interface more simplied and
intuitive and the whole more
operable by ordinary trafc or
road civil engineers.
SKRIBT+ as it is designated will
also incorporate more complex
scenarios with secondary and
overlapping events such as
ooding of a bridge along with a
storm.
The Vissim microsimulator is
part of the PTV Vision suite of
trafc analysis tools that also
includes the Visum macro-
analysis too. The latest version is
now suitable for many situations
where pedestrians and cars
interact says PTV. It already
focusses on individual behaviour
using the so-called social force
model developed by Professor
Helbing.
PTV Vissim
www.ptv.de
has been carried out to nd ways
to better model and simulate
such disasters. Some ten bodies
have made inputs coordinated
by the VDI Technologiezentrum
all feeding into a Vissim car and
pedestrian microsimulation model
at the heart, to assess how people
will respond.
The model is tied to complex
computational uid dynamics
software which models the way
smoke, water, temperature and
other physical factors spread
through the tunnel, affecting
visibility and how bearable
conditions are, explained
Dr Mayer. According to what
happens, the behaviour of the
simulated pedestrian escapees
must be altered both to reect
physical changes and by
psychological factors.
The tunnel might change
because escape routes are blocked
and maybe direction signs become
less visible or completely invisible,
said Mayer. Smoke might prevent
breathing or heat cause difculties.
More subtle perceptual difculties
can also occur.
But people do not always
respond intuitively and this must
also be modelled, which is where
input from Wurzburgs psychology
TRAFFIC CONTROL
Tunnel safety is being
evaluated using programs
initially developed to
model behaviour in
surface applications
The latest
version is now
suitable for many
situations where
pedestrians and
cars interact

PROJECT REPORT
expanded future car and truck
demand.
For the moment only the
interchange and some side
service roads are being built,
said Williamson due to
budgetary constraints. The
service roads, together with 2m
wide sidewalks which double
as bicycle paths, aim to keep
local trafc off the main road
and thereby increase its through
capacity. The roads pick up a
number of otherwise direct entry
points onto the main highway
from private properties as well
as linking this and the next local
junction, helping keep shopping
and school run trafc away from
the main road. Such side roads
are increasingly common in
Australia said Williamson as a
way of reducing trafc ows.
Aecom has designed both
the 5km of still-to-be-widened
highway and the interchange
using Australias own road
3D model road construction
software package, 12d, which
has been gaining ground both
down under and to some extent
in Europe as well.
Initial work was in the version
8 and the team did some of the
later work in the upgraded V9
which came out at the end of
2010. A new V10 has just been
launched.
Super-alignments were used to
model the complex interrelated
geometry of the associated
interchange components which
include two roundabouts with six
entry exit points each. The local
service roads add to the number
of entries, explained Williamson.
The roundabouts are
connected via a central bridge
with two 22m spans, one for
each side of the highway, and
a 14m back span on one and a
23.5m back span on the other.
The bridge itself has been
designed in other software.
The geometry of the
roundabouts was additionally
Fortunately for local contractor
Mogill Construction, the oods
that devastated Queensland
last winter had receded by the
time it began work in February
on a new interchange near
Munruben, some 35km south
of state capital Brisbane.
Progress has been good.
And that is just as well, as the
highway connection involves a
substantial amount of earthmoving
in the rst few months, not least for
an 8m high embanked roundabout
on one side of the new project.
The roundabout has been designed
with a hollow centre, however to
reduce the ll quantities and give
the overall cut and ll on the site a
chance to be balanced.
The winter is traditionally dry
and in this area we avoided the
worst of the earlier deluges,
said William Davidson from
the consultant Aecom which
is designer and construction
supervisor for the works. Even so
managing the cut and ll was a big
challenge with embankments for
the bridge up to 6m and higher for
the roundabout.
But by the end of four months
most ll was in place and the
contractor has moved onto
foundations and bridge structures
and road construction for the
project, he said. That is in line
with a 14 month schedule for the
whole scheme.
The project is a dumb-bell
shaped interchange on the Mount
Lindsey highway with feeds into
the motorways running south of
the city. Two roundabouts sit either
side with a linking bridge across
the highway. The road is in an
area where suburbia merges into
countryside, with relatively spaced
out residences and a couple of
local communities.
But south Queensland has one
of the worlds fastest growing
populations and the demand
for more development is quite
strong, explained Williamson.
The Queensland Department of
Main Roads wants to dual a 5km
length of the highway as part of
an overall upgrade scheme for the
highway which takes it to four lane
at present and eventually six in a
dual three lane conguration. The
interchange with the local roads
is designed with capacity for the
Brisbane area interchange
The 12d software package has been used for
a new interchange in the fast growing south
Queensland area in Australia
The visualisation
rendering capacity
proved useful

complicated by the height on
one side of 8m. The decision to
reduce ll with a hollow centre
added complexity. The team took
advantage of this central circular
tapered void however by installing
a water run-off treatment facility
with settling areas. The water does
not build up however into a pond
and he said, There is an outlet.
This and other drainage was
done using a separate module in
the 12d package which is built
up from a base module for digital
terrain modelling, with a road
alignment and elevation module,
a cut and ll earthwork calculation
module and others.
In the road module, chains
were used to control all design
processes including the export of
drawing data used in generating
more than 500 drawings which
document the project. The road
and alignment capacities allowed
the use of speed tables on the
primary control alignments which
simplied the application of super-
elevation and provided the basis
of the road surface which was
then modied as required by the
designer. The drainage design
module allowed direct integration
via model and tin sharing to ensure
the drainage designers were
always working with the most
up to date road design data says
Williamson.
The 12d package includes a
visualisation rendering capacity
and this proved useful said
Williamson, Its not as realistic
as some complex packages but
it is good enough and very quick
to prepare a rendered view, he
commented. That is highly useful
for explaining things to the client,
or for setting up an eyeline view
to show someone how things
will look from their property for
example.
He said that a useful visual can
be created in just 20 minutes or so.
With 25m deep piled bridge
foundations now complete the
project is beginning to take
shape. Work continues until the
(Australian) autumn next year.
12d
www.12d.com
PROJECT REPORT
In the road module

chains were used
to control all design
processes including the
export of drawing data
used in generating more
than 500 drawings which
document the project
Site conditions at the project did prove challenging

The project called for the construction of a complex interchange
Using the software allowed the project team to analyse an array of factors during the design phase
StreetMapper is a joint
development between UK based
3D Laser Mapping and German
based guidance and navigation
specialist IGI and offers vehicle-
mounted laser scans with a 360
eld of view. The company claims
a range of 300m and a capacity
of 300,000 measurements per
second per sensor. Depending on
the set-up used, accuracies can
be as good as 10mm.
3D Laser Mapping
www.3dlasermapping.com
Allpoint Systems
www.allpointsystems.com
StreetMapper Bridges uses
software from American rm
Allpoint Systems which can
process entire directories of
3D laser scanned data. The
complex algorithms in the
Allpoint Perception Engine
can simplify aspects of the
hundreds of millions or even
billions of points contained in
scans and extract usable data
for specic purposes.
The software, which has
already found applications in
tunnel and underground spaces,
has a hybrid of software tools
that mix automation for time
consuming repetitive tasks with
user interaction to make more
complex decisions. StreetMapper
is a vehicle-based laser mapping
system which uses GPS and
inertial systems to give a positional
reference to data picked up during
a mobile laser scan, rapidly and
quickly providing a huge number
of measurements along roads.
But handling laser cloud data
is still difcult. By providing the
tools for automatic calculation
of bridge heights and other
measurements the new service
simplies the processing of the
billions of individual laser scanned
measurements recorded. It is
well suited for tasks like road
construction and maintenance
and abnormal route calculations.
The new application extracts
cross sections from the data and
calculates clearances and other
user dened measurements.
This automation enables large-
scale use of laser mapping by
eliminating manual inefciencies.
StreetMapper is offering the
processing as a service (Software
as a Service) for which customers
buy an annual licence and data
storage, or as an on project
basis. In that case the companys
developers take on the data
processing to agreed deliverables.
This is a great addition and a must
for anyone in road surveying,
said Michael Frecks, president
of Terrametrix, a professional
survey company which is using
the system. It eliminates time
consuming and repetitive tasks.
Laser surveys
calculate bridges
LASER SCANNING & POINT CLOUDS
An exciting development in the use of laser scan point
clouds is shown in the latest service from British
survey company StreetMapper which offers automatic
measurement of bridge heights, measurement of road
surfaces and identication of lane markings
Faster and more efcient
analysis of bridge
dimensions can be
achieved by using the
latest technology, speeding
construction processes
CLOUD COMPUTING
real time system monitoring
by Mayrise which is able to
anticipate potential problems
and can use server support
from one of the UKs biggest
Internet hosting companies.
Another advantage will be
the reduction of ofce time
entering information from
paper eld reports, said Elliot
who commented that there is a
continual backlog. That will be
addressed using wireless data
services for remote working;
highways inspectors, engineers,
surveyors and other mobile
workers will be using smart
phones or PDAs allowing a
productivity gain and better
service.
The web hosted service will
include access to digital street
maps and overlays such as the
councils terrier and overlays
showing street light locations,
defects, faults, and highways
assets. Potentially any mapped
highways related data can be
added he explained. Mayrise
has mobile applications for
highways maintenance, street
lighting and street works such
as mobile MapNow for locating
assets, faults or defects in the
eld. They use forms designed
for real time updates and
improvements in the mapped
overlays can then be exported
to a Geographic Information
System. Elliot believes the web
managed will make automation
possible for other functions too,
which would not have been cost
effective previously. The street
caf culture in this seaside town
suggests trader placement and
highway enforcement would be
obvious extensions, he said.
Mayrise Systems
www.mayrise.co.uk
Brighton & Hove City Council
has become one of the rst
local authorities in Britain
to operate its highways
management system with an
Internet hosted service.
For the moment the street works
function alone will benet from the
service which is being offered by
system provider Mayrise Systems.
But other functions such as street
lighting and highways will follow.
The changeover from the user
point of view will be seamless as
they will simply access the same
functions as before but with secure
access online.
The decision to move the Street
Works system externally was
two-fold says council highways
services IT manager Jeff Elliot.
Firstly, the council needed to meet
new government requirements
and secondly, the existing system
needed updating. The latest
statutory obligations under the
UKs Trafc Management Act
require frequent interchange
of data between external
organisations and the council
to keep the council informed of
works and to monitor and enforce
controls. But this conicts with an
increasingly important need for
data security.
Hosted services option offered
an ideal solution he said,
Restrictions and rewalls around
the councils data are becoming
more secure and effective. Elliot
continued, But it can make
internally hosted systems more
complex.
By externalising street works
it is possible to communicate
directly with utility companies,
contractors and others as needed
under the TMA. Mayrise Systems
and the council devised a secure,
resilient solution that encrypts data
transfers from within the council
to the remote system. Authorised
external users will also be able to
gain access from different locations
anytime they need to. Software
systems and data are managed
externally by Mayrise Systems and
that reduces the burden on the
council IT department, said Elliot.
Highways will also benet from
Cloud computing
for Brighton
The development of cloud computing hosted
services on the Internet is becoming more
commonplace for local authorities in the UK
Using the Mayrise
package is allowing
the authorities in
Brighton to improve
road repair efciency
and reduce costs
Barriers
Delays to better
barrier safety for
Europes powered two
wheeler riders. p41
Software
Innovative GIS and
software solutions are
coming to market
from the three key
market players. p37
Earthmoving
Manufacturers are rolling
out sophisticated
machines for the European,
North American and
Japanese markets. p31
Ef cient bridge
construction
Harsco rises to tall order p51
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
www.worldhighways.com
INTERNATIONAL
ROAD FEDERATION
OF F I C I AL
J OUR NAL
EUROFILE
EDITION
CON/AGG
2011
www.AggBusiness.com
APRIL 2011
FREE SUBSCRIPTION
FREE subscription to World Highways
12 months supply of World Highways magazine (9 issues per year) in print
The World Highways eNewsletter emailed twice a month to over 50,000 qualified individuals
Unlimited access to the World Highways website with over 8 years of archived industry
information in a fully searchable format
Specials and supplements that focus on specific areas
A subscription to World Highways gives you:
Register for FREE online @ www.roplreg.com
Guarantee your copies of World Highways
by registering today @ www.roplreg.com
Route One Publishing Ltd.
Horizon House, Azalea Drive, Swanley, Kent, BR8 8JR. UK.
Tel: +44 1322 612055 Fax: +44 161 603 0891 Informed Authority

Software Ri 1112

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Software Ri 1112

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

S

ustaining infrastructure is now a world priority. We need high

changes and possible climate

Software for Road Infrastructure 7

The package allows the user an overview of a project

Australias 12d road design

The Rijkswaterstaat is using the ARAN vehicle to survey

16 Software for Road Infrastructure

Software for Road Infrastructure 17

Plans for a dual two lane expressway connection

A special publication from the publisher of

recognises some clients may

No matter where the mark-ups originated,

Software for Road Infrastructure 21

is prescribed right down to the

Software for Road Infrastructure 23

The program provides an

Software for Road Infrastructure 31

being carried out more and more

Software for Road Infrastructure 37

The model allows a very visual display of scheduling

department is added in. The

Software for Road Infrastructure 43

In the road module

Site conditions at the project did prove challenging

You might also like