The first train of line 15, part of the Grand Paris Express project, is shown in its first illustration … More
Building mega projects have a failure rate of 91.5% – too late, over the budget or both. But a software breakthrough changes this. It combines two existing technologies to create something new. Consider the 41 billion US dollar Grand Paris Express -Subway extension.
One hundred foot under the streets of Paris build something massive thousands of workers. The city's legendary U -Bahn system adds four new lines. There are 124 miles new tunnels and 68 new stations. It is the largest infrastructure project in Europe, which is equivalent to add the entirety of Washington, the existing U -Bahn system of DC.
The scale is amazing. 10,000 people worked in one last week. They had 50 miles and 25 stations under construction at the same time.
Projects that are so big usually fail. Less than 1% Large projects end on time, in the budget and as planned.
But the Grand Paris Express project is different. They use a breakthrough that changes how strong construction and infrastructure are built up.
The breakthrough combines two existing technologies. GIS (geographical information systems) assigns the real world. BIM (building information modeling) shows construction details.
Regardless of this, these tools are useful. Together they are revolutionary.
The merger is not just a new tool, but a whole new way of designing and building things.
It creates something that construction has never had: context and details at the same time. Teams can see everything about a project in the real world. You also see every detail about the project itself up to individual wires and water connections.
For the Paris Metro, this means total visibility. Designers see every available utility while planning new rail lines. You know which cables can stay, which pipes have to move. Construction teams can sequence work stages, plan material deliveries and plan the right workers.
The system also improves the detection of “conflicts”. It discovers where concreting, electrical installation and stretching construction with the built or natural world are conflicting – or with each other. Then it suggests solutions before problems occur.
Everyone who is involved in the Grand Paris Express project sees the same information. Interior designers, urban officials, lighting installers, engineers of problem solving and community members all work from identical data.
Why construction and infrastructure need this
After many measures, the construction industry is in the crisis.
Only reworking – the things that were simply done wrong – emphasizes an average of 12% of the project costs.
A cause? Communication and cooperation. Design changes are misunderstood. Field problems are not clearly explained to the office. Architects, engineers and tree managers work in silos.
It is frustrating to manage projects that get caught in design disputes and construction delays. It is frustrating to be people who try to build these projects on the ground. And it is twice or triple frustrating to be the customer: the person, the person or the city who is waiting for the tunnel to be completed, or the office building is ready, whereby the invoice grows as an unclosed period.
That combined GIS + BIM system helps. It creates “data continuity” – anyone who uses the same information about each element. It builds a digital bridge between the field and the office, between building entrepreneurs and designers and their customers. It accelerates decisions and gives everyone more confidence in these decisions. Architecture, engineering and construction company (AEC) should have their promises fulfilled.
Thomas Lesage, Digital Transformation Officer of the French company, e.g.
Structure with intelligence
Other projects see similar results. Peru Used to rebuild floods in an area that is four times as large as in New York City. Until the convergence of GIS and BIM, no software system could treat the data and the users for such a dispersed effort, with so many contractors and so many stakeholders pass over such a great geography. Engineer David Castillo called the system, which was created with GIS + BIM the “greatest performance” of the project.
It is the flexibility and adaptability that makes the union of GIS and BIM so valuable. It shows the reality, the plan and can model the future – or several different possible future, depending on everyone from climate to financing.
San Francisco International Airport used it during the pandemic to rebuild Terminal 1. They do not call it a “digital twin” – they call it a “dynamic twin” because it adapts in real time.
This transformation in the construction work is all the more important because the construction has massive effects on the world. Buildings create 42% of global carbon emissions. We build the equivalent of the building room in New York City every month – and will do so for 40 years.
A dozen New York cities new buildings per year.
We cannot afford the current failure rate of 91.5%. Every delayed project wastes resources. All cost overruns shorten profits. Every mistake creates more emissions.
The world needs intelligent constructions. Projects that work for the first time. This takes into account the place where they are built. This fulfills both the economic and environmental needs. Buildings that are designed for both today and in 40 years.
The GIS + BIM fusion not only makes better projects. It makes better processes and better places. It helps people work faster and more naturally.
The technology combines trustworthy tools that companies are already using.
Early Adopters say that it changes corporate culture and not just project results.
A veteran of the AEC management said: “We are taking out the frustration.”
For an industry that swims frustrated, this is revolutionary.
Learn more about how the AEC industry leads to solving today's greatest infrastructure challenges With GIS technology.