

(Image courtesy: CGS Labs)ĬGS Labs refers to its solutions as BIM-ready rather than as BIM applications, which is an accurate description considering that they are primarily CAD solutions which have been enhanced with BIM capabilities and support BIM workflows and processes. For Ferrovia, there are tools for rail track alignment and profile design, detailed cross section design and editing, and other rail engineering features.įigure 4. In the case of Plateia, this includes the initial input of survey data, to complex 3D road models with analysis tools, to documentation and publishing features. Both applications include the tools to support the entire design process, from preliminary to detailed design. Of these, especially noteworthy from a BIM perspective are Plateia for 3D road design and reconstruction and Ferrovia for railway design and rail track analysis (Figure 4). In addition to being an authorized developer for both Autodesk and Bricksys, CGS Labs develops its own suite of high-end civil engineering applications for roads, railways, river engineering, and power lines.
Allplan bim 2014 software#
CGS LabsĪnother set of software solutions for BIM for Infrastructure is from a company called CGS Labs based in Slovenia, which has been in the market for 30 years and is supported by resellers around the world.
Allplan bim 2014 full#
(Image courtesy: Site3D)Īdditional features of Site3D include the ability to import a wide variety of file types, a full set of CAD tools for creating detailed 2D documentation, and the ability to export the model to IFC format for integration with other BIM applications. Site3D incorporates the rules for roundabout design, allowing fully graded roundabouts to be quickly created.

By making it easy to modify any aspect of the design model and have the knock-on effects automatically calculated and applied, the engineer can try out many what-if scenarios for the design and explore many different solutions quickly.įigure 3. Just as with BIM in building design, the software handles all the tedious and mundane details, allowing the engineer to focus on the high-level design intent. For example, if you change the road alignment line as shown in Figure 2, then all the details-the road's channels, kerbs, footways, laybys, junctions, interface slopes, sections, triangulation, and volume calculations-are instantly updated, and in all the views. The product has a comprehensive set of capabilities for road systems (including long link roads, roundabouts, and junctions) and site design (including grading, drainage networks, ponds, earthworks, and volume calculations), all of which use model-based smarts to automate the design process. Site3D has been in use within Wormald Burrows Partnership since its development in 2003, and it was made available for commercial use starting from 2014. This helps to explain the capabilities and interface of Site3D which reflect an in-depth knowledge of civil engineering processes, the way engineers think about design, and the way engineers like to interact with software. Site3D is developed by a software company called Microplot in the UK, working in conjunction with its sister company, Wormald Burrows Partnership, a successful UK civil engineering consultancy. And it’s not even “new” as such-development on it started in 2003, many years prior to the launch of InfraWorks by Autodesk. Site3D is a full-fledged 3D civil engineering design software developed with intelligent BIM objects, so advanced that I was surprised I hadn’t heard of it before. Let’s start by exploring these more recent offerings before going back to look at the solutions from Autodesk and Bentley for infrastructure design using BIM (Figure 1).įigure 1. As we will see, the field for BIM in infrastructure has expanded beyond the initial offerings that were limited to Autodesk and Bentley solutions. This article is focused on capturing the developments along the software front.

Since then, there have been several developments in the field of BIM for infrastructure, including the software that is available for it, the implementation of BIM by infrastructure firms as well as government agencies, and the expansion of the IFC open standard for BIM to include infrastructure elements. At that time, Autodesk had recently launched InfraWorks as a “BIM-from-the-ground-up” infrastructure design application and was transitioning its flagship civil design application, Civil 3D, from being more CAD-like to BIM-like.

It has been close to seven years that I first wrote about the extension of the BIM concept of model-based design from the building domain to the infrastructure domain.
