INSIGHT• ONSITE/STEEL MAY 2018 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
“If everyone is on board with it then use of BIM saves time. But it is only as good as its weakest team member” Matthew Pearce, Mott MacDonald
One consulting engineer who is familiar with these terms is Matthew Pearce, principal structural engineer at Mott MacDonald. Part of the London structures team, Pearce has experience of BIM in the UK and overseas, and estimates that 80-90% of the projects he works on are BIM Level 2 or above. Uptake has increased gradually over the past few years, he believes. “The real benefits are when everyone is using it, from the architect to the MEP engineer,” Pearce says. “If they aren’t using it then it can really hinder the process, but if they are then it really helps with coordination.” He cites the example of how BIM sped up the design and construction of the Jakarta International Velodrome in Indonesia, an enclosed arena where the roof was constructed using a steel frame. Pearce says: “I worked on the London Velodrome and that took about 12-18
MX3D, Autodesk Heijmans and Joris Laarman are working on a 3D-printed stainless steel bridge to be installed in Amsterdam this year
months to do the design. On Jakarta we only had half the time, so because it was design and build we were working directly with the contractor to build the model, almost at concept stage, and then add more detail as we went. “It took about six months to do it from start to finish. If everyone is on board with it then use of BIM saves time. But it is only as good as its weakest team member.” Pearce thinks that BIM adoption may be lower in the UK than in some other areas of the world and says having buy-in from the principal contractor is key. Nonetheless, he has seen the use of 4D and 5D BIM in the UK, notably in the case of the £77m Casement Park stadium in Belfast, now going through planning. “We used 4D to show the construction planning because it is quite a constrained site, and then we used 5D because our cost team did the costing for the project, so we were able to integrate the cost information into the Revit model and then that was used to produce the bill of quantities,” he explains. Pearce sees the main obstacle to BIM adoption as accessibility – with clients and non-technical design team members not necessarily familiar with the specialist software required. “I think one way to improve it, and it’s the way it’s going, is for it to become more web-based,” Pearce says. “If you can interact with models using a web browser, spin it around and even start to modify it, then that definitely helps with accessibility.” Bingham, despite his scepticism about BIM adoption so far, is hopeful that technology can provide the answer. “Construction has been focused on putting information into these models,” he says. “You start out with a skeleton and you enrich the dataset as the project
progresses. But there is technology now such as point cloud 3D laser scanning that can create data automatically.” Moore sees the potential for technologies like augmented reality (see box), although he says the industry still needs to understand how best to exploit it. Some BCSA members are beginning to use robotics in their workshops, he says – and he believes applications for 3D printing are on the horizon. He is excited about plans to 3D print a stainless steel bridge in Amsterdam, a project involving Dutch robotics startup MX3D with Autodesk, construction firm Heijmans and designer Joris Laarman. It is to be installed in late 2018 over the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal. “These technologies are changing rapidly and we need to see how we can use them in everyday steelwork construction,” Moore says. ●
Tata introduces BIM product data tool Tata Steel has launched a BIM and product data tool for all its European construction brand products, which it hopes will allow architects, specifiers and facility managers to retrieve the exact level of BIM data they require in the format they need. The company’s web-based DNA Profiler provides access to BIM data on over 6,100 of its products in software formats including Autodesk Revit, ARCHICAD, Tekla, Allplan and Trimble SketchUp. Alex Small, Tata Steel BIM and digital platforms manager, says: “If BIM is to be properly adopted, the industry needs to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Our DNA Profiler provides the design community with the tools it needs and acts as a standard setter for product manufacturers.”
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