Big Engineering Projects of the Year: Bridges and Tunnels

Bentley Systems revealed the 36 finalists in its annual customer showcase, which this year was called Going Digital 2022. Finalists were chosen by 11 independent jurors from over 300 infrastructure projects nominated, representing the work of over 180 firms from 47 countries. The winners will be revealed in what has come to be known as the “Academy Awards of Infrastructure,” a black-tie gala event to be held in November in London. Engineering.com will be in attendance.

Ferrovial Construction and Alamo Nex Construction

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has started a $1.45 billion project to increase the capacity of the I-35 Northeast Expansion (NEX) corridor with 22 miles of viaduct that will add three lanes in each direction. The project also adds two interchanges and piping necessary for drainage. Ferrovial Construction was awarded the contract on the strength of a 3D design that was able to show a complex bridge structure being built in tight spaces next to existing structures—something that is difficult to do in 2D. Clash detection during design— possible only with solid modeling—was able to eliminate 3,530 collisions, saving considerable project time and costs.

Southwest Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute of China

Chengdu and Chongqing, cities in Western China, have a combined population of 20 million people separated by 270 km of railways and the East-West Urban Axis highway. The Southwest China Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute (SMEDRI) started the design of the next section of the highway, a 11 km stretch of roadway with interchanges, bridges and tunnels. Challenges were working around high traffic, tunneling through soft rock and building an underground piping system. SMEDRI sought to do as much as possible digitally using parametric design and BIM technology. 3D design made clash detection possible, and by SMEDRI’s estimates, shortened project design and construction by 20 percent.

Zigong Urban Planning and Design Institute Co., Ltd.

Zigong City, Sichuan, China

Zigong, historically famous for its production of salt,^[i] smaller than either Chengdu and Chongqing with only (!) 2.5 million people, aims to integrate with the bigger cities and their special economic zone with the building of the City-industry Integration Belt. To manage the challenges of this project, which included land requisition, complicated traffic control and a complex underground pipeline system, a multidiscipline project team was formed by the Zigong Urban Planning and Design Institute, which relied on integrated BIM solutions, as opposed to more traditional design methods.