Since 1999, Trimble has selected structural engineering projects by its customers for special recognition every other year. This year the Tekla Global Building Information Modeling (BIM) Awards gave top prize to Norway’s Randselva Bridge, believed to be the world’s longest. It may also be the first big bridge ever to be created entirely from a 3D model.
Over 135 projects were submitted from 36 countries. Winners were selected by a panel of industry professionals, media and a Trimble representative. Criteria included not only innovation and constructability but also collaboration during project implementation.
The multinational firm Sweco Structural used teams in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Poland, all collaborating with Tekla Model Sharing. The bridge geometry, clash detection and simulation were done with Tekla Structures. The parametric 3D model was the documentation and the source for information needed to build the bridge—which, may we repeat—was made without a single drawing.
A 328 million euro development in London on the banks of the Thames, One Nine Elms is a mixed-use project with some very special requirements. Core base rafts 20 feet underground required building and plant materials to be supplied from “mole holes” that wound around quarters. As with the Randselva Bridge, the project’s 3D BIM model was used as the single source of truth for all the design and construction teams. Clash detection was done so that rebar did not have to be replaced on site. What is perhaps the largest continuous concrete pour ever done in London was orchestrated with 3D models and the use of Trimble Connect.
The Blominmäki plant is one of the most productive wastewater treatment plants in the Nordic countries, according to Trimble. Its construction involved considerable data management, with 93 thousand cubic meters of concrete, 9 million kgs of rebar and 1.5 million kgs of structural steel.
The 303 million euro Helsinki University (HUS) Bridge Hospital and its extension, the Radiation Care Department, called for more than 8 thousand precast units and over 4 thousand tons of steel. Sixteen levels and 194 submodels compose the main BIM model. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) helped to immerse stakeholders in the facility’s design and construction. A hundred workers on the site were able to access the BIM model on their mobile devices during the construction.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Pool and natatorium is a steel reinforced concrete structure weighing 1,300 tons. The 3D model was completed by a five-person team in 10 months.
Covering a transmission tower is a steel lion and eagle, symbols of the town. All 5,869 parts of the animals’ depiction were detailed in 3D, including a similar number of bolts. The steel plate was cut, punched and drilled using CNC from the Tekla Structures model and the parts all fit together without so much as a trial assembly.
The enormous mosque (covering one hectare of ground) can accommodate about 16,000 worshippers. The steel and concrete structure was planned with SketchUp and detailed with Tekla Structures. The students were careful to integrate embed cultural details into the design using the software.