BAM UK & Ireland is a top tier construction and civil engineering company, and part of the world-renowned Royal BAM Group. As part of an ongoing, group-wide effort to digitise working practices, BAM UK & Ireland has adopted Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) as its Common Data Environment to centralise data, improve efficiencies, connect teams, and take significant strides towards its sustainability goals.
For any industry that’s been around for decades, there’s a weight of legacy working methods that often need updating. Not so long ago, digital technology was in its infancy and construction companies in particular relied heavily on paper and email to collaborate across teams. As tools have developed and internet access has improved, businesses are now turning to the cloud to centralise data, empowering teams with the removal of data silos.
“The major change we’ve seen is the digitisation of construction,” says Simon Tritschler, Principal DPS Support Specialist – Digital Project Solutions at BAM UK & Ireland. “The industry as a whole has been moving towards technology adoption to better facilitate projects. In the last ten years, we’ve grown from occasionally using technology to it being predominant, with less and less paper required.”
Construction is a many-faceted world. From client-side communications through to design, preparation, and building there are moving parts at every stage – and stakeholders to match. So, for a digital revolution to succeed, there needs to be buy-in at all levels with a clear, concise proof of concept. For BAM UK & Ireland, that’s the Waterford City Public Infrastructure Project.
Situated in the south east of Ireland, Waterford is a small town of a little over 60,000 people. Stradling the river Suir, most of the shops, services and residential areas housing 90% of the population are based on the south bank, while north of the river is much harder to access.
“There’s only one bridge connecting the two sides of the town,” explains Amy Finlay, DPS Project Lead for BAM UK & Ireland. “We’re undertaking an urban rejuvenation plan to develop additional infrastructure on the north bank – including a new rail transport hub – and building a new bridge across the Suir specifically for pedestrians and electric vehicles.”
Developing critical infrastructure is no small undertaking. For Waterford, it amounts to building almost an entire town on the river’s north bank. Hotels, shopping centres, commercial areas, and residential dwellings will all be connected by a series of new roads and transport connections. A sustainable bridge will link the south bank to the new and vast development on the north side.
“The aim is for a person to get from one side of Waterford to the other in just 15 minutes,” says Stephen McCarthy, BAM UK & Ireland’s Project Manager for Waterford. “What we’re doing right now is essentially a large enabling works project that develops the area for building work to follow.”
“There are an enormous number of stakeholders for a project like this,” adds Amy. “We need to work closely internally throughout all departments, but also engage with the Waterford council representatives who commission the work. With something of this scale, we need to ensure the integrity of our data is considered up front, and that our people have access to the best tools to deliver the work.”
The amount of data generated on a construction project can’t be overestimated. In years gone by, companies would share files and documents by email or deliver physical drives, but development of the cloud has given rise to a new, more efficient way of working. BAM UK & Ireland knew that its people often doubled up on effort, their experience being that data silos were intrinsic to how work was completed. However, in this digital age, they believed that a better way must exist, and pursued a cloud-based solution.
“We generate an enormous amount of data,” says Michael Murphy, Head of Information Management and Data Analytics at BAM UK & Ireland. “So ensuring that our people have access to the latest technology available to them helps to deliver valuable outcomes for BAM and for our clients. We’ve been working with Autodesk for over a decade – they’re a trusted partner and have an ideal solution to our data challenges in ACC.”
“The driving force for BAM as a construction company is the capture of information in the field,” adds Simon. “What ACC has enabled us to do is provide accessibility for a wider range of users. So now in one platform we can have the design teams, construction teams, subcontractors, and our clients all in the same place operating much more effectively.”
Integrated thinking in this way is the bedrock of a successful project for BAM UK & Ireland, and the use of ACC on the Waterford City Public Infrastructure Project provided the proof of concept needed to rollout the workflow across new commissions within the group.
“When highly skilled people are empowered by the latest technology the results are outstanding,” adds Michael.
As a cloud-based platform, ACC is continually evolving. Built on modules, users can deploy and leverage elements they need as required on any given project. Each module supports a different phase of the construction process and is accessible from offices or in the field on a tablet or smartphone. What’s more, because files are stored and logged in the cloud there’s no siloing of data or erroneous duplication – the latest version is always available and can be shared for collaboration.
The Autodesk Docs module is the base of ACC – it’s where files are stored for users to access documents, models, and contracts. “Our design review process is built on top of the Docs module,” explains Simon. “Then at the other end, in the execution phase, we’re using the Build module to help manage and deliver projects.” Supplementary modules such as Assets or Schedule are then used to further improve the workflow. “Outside of the Docs, Design Review, Model Coordination, and Build modules, we also have optional Cost Management and Take Off modules to help with budgets and quantity surveying.”
ACC’s module-based nature is the key to its versatility. With the ability to customise workflows to suit any given business, and by putting ease of use right at the heart of its design, ACC is delivering meaningful gains to BAM UK & Ireland.
“ACC has made life for our people much easier,” continues Simon. “Information is all in one place, it’s a single source of truth, there are good reporting capabilities, and we have accessibility to information in a permissions-based system. They see the information that they need to see.”
“Our mobilisation has been very much around starting where we’re digitally strong,” says Simon. “We then spend time developing the processes in order to roll out across other areas.”
Having a centralised data point transforms the workflow, allowing designers, construction managers, and clients to work on the same file and keep up to date with its latest progress. A common data environment gives the team access to an entire project without the need for email communications and data transfers.
“Across all of our projects, ACC has reduced the amount of time required to manage information,” says Amy. “Our team produces new material rapidly, and taking this step to digitisation has been crucial in keeping up and deciding what to action next.”
Fundamentally, it also means that BAM operates more sustainably than it has before. With less requirement for physical copies of files or even travel, the company’s carbon footprint is dropping. “We don’t have to go to a site to have a conversation with the construction teams,” adds Simon. “Almost all conversations occur in the cloud, and there’s a record of them that’s easy to keep. This opens up the transparency on projects and further helps to communicate with our clients without negatively impacting our world.”
This approach goes hand in hand with the ethos of the Waterford City Public Infrastructure Project. It’s designed from day one to improve the connections between both sides of a single town, but is doing so with sustainability in mind. “Working on Waterford has been a fantastic experience for us,” says Stephen. “Communication and collaboration is so much easier than it was before – we can access whatever we need to see whenever we need to see it without having to wait… or waste.”
“ACC has reduced the load on our people, and on our supply chain, and on our client base so it’s making life more sustainable for our people,” concludes Simon. “And from an environmental point of view, having a single source of truth is making it easier for us to build a level of trust and consistency, which in turn makes our construction business more sustainable.”
