Delivering project certainty with 4D construction visualization

Projects that involve working on active campuses and facilities are particularly challenging, according to Lester. Add in the challenges of regulatory requirements, nearby activity on both the ground and in the air, and the need to ensure no disruption to ongoing operations. These types of projects would require complex coordination and sequencing efforts.

A recent large, complex project completed by Robert Bird Group in the Middle East embodied all these challenges, requiring the development of a detailed Construction Methodology and Erection Sequence (CMES) and the design of temporary works supporting the permanent structure.

RBG's knowledge of VDC and the tools provided in Autodesk's AEC Collection helped keep the project on track by verifying the proposed solution would allow work to continue on the permanent structure, mitigating a schedule that was already under immense pressure.

By creating a 4D construction simulation of the CMES, using Navisworks for clash detection and coordination, along with Dynamo scripts for automation of design tasks, “the team could experience the process of where the temporary works would be, watch the pieces being put in place, with a clear understanding of scale and where the equipment would go, or where it might impede progress, " says Mullett.

Digital visualizations provide confidence to the client when signing off on a construction approach, freeing the design team to continue its use of BIM and VDC through the journey of the design process itself with Revit, Navisworks, and 3ds Max.

Precise coordination of elements, such as structural works and MEP systems, is instrumental for construction teams. RBG uses Revit and Navisworks to coordinate multi-disciplinary designs and undertake clash-detection for any elements that do not fit together. This analysis is a critical step in ensuring constructability of designs and avoiding rework in the field and determining what components need building in advance before being installed on site.

One of the most time-consuming challenges for these highly complex projects is that they are often designed with a lack of repetition and require detailing, fabrication, and installation of unique geometric elements. Generating the construction documentation of these elements would typically require a manual build of multiple iterations of Revit models, wasting countless hours of design time. The RBG team came up with a creative solution to this problem, performing options analysis using Dynamo.

"On a recent project, we looked to Dynamo to automate the production of the documentation," says Mullett. "We'd pull engineering analysis models into Revit and use an in-house scripting process RBG developed using Dynamo to automatically push those through to the documentation." RBG further automated the process by using 3ds Max to perform sequences based on the project’s requirements. "We were able to incorporate all of the processes through all of the various stages using BIM as a center," he says. The time savings on the processes benefitted the entire team, shortening overall design time and allowing for collaboration and coordination through to design and construction teams and a quick turnaround of any necessary changes.