CU1711

CASE study
Grandfather's Bridge
A recent Tekla based project tested BIM fully from conception to completion, aiming to deliver a full
'paperless project'
Grandfather's Bridge in Finland is
a full-blown BIM project that
progressed from the initial call
for bids to its public opening and
beyond, aiming at paperless design
and construction, and creating new
practices for transferring BIM data
between project members. The project
utilises 3D modelling throughout the
planning phase allowing participants to
minimise errors and to make the
transfer of information faster and
clearer. Throughout the project
significant savings were achieved in
time and other resources.
SMOOTH START TO BIM
The general contractor, Kreate, was
fairly new to BIM when they started
working on the project, but being
experienced Tekla users meant that
using the software in a full-blown BIM
project felt natural for them.
Aki Kopra, Project Engineer at Kreate,
explains how Building Information
Modelling was used all the way from
the tender phase to delivery. "In the
tendering phase of the project, the
Building Information Model was an
official and binding document. I think
that this type of method is becoming
more common, but for me, this was my
first BIM project. As it turned out, the
well-built bridge model supported our
tender calculations throughout the
tendering phase."
SHARED UNDERSTANDING
In the Grandfather's Bridge project BIM
was not only used for design but also
for setting up schedules and monitoring
and supporting the fabrication and
erection of structures. For example,
steel structures were given three
different statuses for scheduling -
design, fabrication and installation -
and concrete pours were scheduled in
the model. The model was used by the
client for visualising the various phases
of the project, and also by the
workshop, which manufactured the
steel structures, facilitating scheduling
and fluent collaboration between the
site and fabrication operations.
Kopra stresses that visualising the
structure in 3D with Tekla was a
significant help in processing the
information; for example for managing
site operations. The bridge planning
process was similarly streamlined, and,
allowing the project team to avoid
errors, resulted in time savings.
"The planning process is simpler and
clearer with BIM, and also more
transparent for the different members of
the project - for instance, BIM allowed
the site crew to see and understand the
bridge structure and the way it was to
be erected. This makes planning work,
as it allows the entire project to
become more fluent, quicker and errorfree,"
says Jarkko Savolainen, the
project's building information specialist
at A-Insinöörit Oy.
The project parties chose Tekla Model
Sharing to access the combined
model. As a result, the model was
always up to date and team members
were able to access the accurate
information they needed, when they
needed it.
FABRICATION, PROCUREMENT
AND DELIVERY
The project used BIM throughout its
fabrication processes for manufacturing
the different challenging steel
structures, which were modelled
originally as workshop models to test
design and fabrication, and to sort out
12
November/December 2017