CC4201

CASEstudy
created across these stakeholders, a highly
complex working environment is soon
established.
Maintaining this interconnected process
can get very expensive without any central
spatial system or automation. Manual
disconnected approaches carry a data
management overhead for each team's
individual data silo, while timescales are
lengthened as it takes time for data to pass
between silos. The risk of problems from
out-of-sync versioning could be potentially
disastrous for a project, including delays in
construction and costly reworks.
THE SOLUTION
To ensure all parties remain aligned, a
single source of truth devoid of any human
error is critical. Having this as a repeatable,
iterative, accurate process, enshrined in a
concrete GIS element is absolutely vital,
and this is what AtkinsRéalis has created.
At the heart of the BNG solution lies the
AtkinsRéalis Spatial Common Data
Environment (SpatialCDE), which means
solid data management is already in place
and accelerates any analysis performed
upon it. The SpatialCDE is a fully custom
tech-stack, combining open source with
FME, Esri ArcGIS, and Microsoft Azure to
create a resilient data management and
visualisation toolbox. A project may have
several thousand individual data layers; the
SpatialCDE ensures they are identifiable,
auditable, accessible, and understandable.
Using Esri ArcGIS Python libraries,
AtkinsRéalis SpatialCDE can build custom
analytical applications quickly, so users
can view or analyse data in 2D or 3D to
answer their specific queries in a selfservice
way. They don't need desktop
software and they don't all need to be fully
skilled in GIS, but can focus on their
domain specialisms such as ecology,
without encountering technological or
personnel bottlenecks.
Using custom apps connected to the
SpatialCDE means accurate and timely
data is easily shared across multiple teams
and third-party organisations, enhancing
the BNG decision-making process. No
specialist training is required - its intuitive
user interface makes it easy for new users
to become familiar with interrogating data.
Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)
are conducted using ArcGIS Field Maps on
mobile devices. Ecologists use map-driven
mobile forms to capture different assets
and observations to complete their work
efficiently and accurately. Data is then
automatically uploaded to the SpatialCDE.
The whole platform is aligned with ISO
19650, the international standard which
sets data management guidance and is
BIM Level 2 compliant.
Now, when BNG is being examined, the
SpatialCDE looks at the type and volume of
habitats which are due to be impacted. As
it's a systems based approach, the same
analysis can take place every time the
design is changed in order to reveal exactly
how much habitat is impacted.
Replacements or mitigation are then
calculated. The workflow takes seconds
instead of days or weeks, compared to a
traditional manual paper-based method.
BENEFITS AND EVIDENCE OF
SUCCESS
1. More efficient data collection and
management saves each AtkinsRéalis
SpatialCDE project £300,000 per year. Time
saved comes from:
Less time spent looking for and collating
necessary data
Ecologists spend less time collecting
data in the field
Fewer physical meetings to discuss the
latest version of the design
No inputting of data into maps and pdfs
No inputting of disparate data
No additional processing of the data
No paper drawings or maps.
2. Custom applications involved project
calculations within the AtkinsRéalis
SpatialCDE are deployed more quickly, each
one saving on average £160,000 per year:
This cost saving comes from custom
applications to answer specific
questions taking hours to create
instead of days
For example, if a user wants to examine
carbon sequestration for a project, they
create an application, draw a shape,
switch the land use to 'woodland' and it
will show how much carbon
sequestration they will gain
Another example is understanding
constraints in proximity. A simple app
can 'buffer' the design feature, to tell you
what is going to be within 500m of that
point, which is invaluable in establishing
stakeholder impact
To understand its visual impact, a zone
of theoretical visibility is easily created,
showing the user everything that can
'see' the new structure, based on
topography and other structures.
3. In one project example, a 1,000%
potential increase in BNG is projected,
thanks to a comprehensive identification of
opportunity by the new methodology:
Following a systematic search of the
study area soft estate, four areas of
opportunity were selected for feasibility
study stage, with proposed habitat
interventions to create mixed scrub
habitat and neutral grassland
enhancement
Following the habitat interventions
proposed, the selected areas combined
would potentially achieve 1,000%
increase in biodiversity
This study identified these
opportunities, but it also created a
long list of similar opportunities along
roads across the region. This means
that once interventions have been
trialled, those that are most successful
can be replicated on similar sites
across the region.
CONCLUSION
AtkinsRéalis believes it has created one of
the most advanced geospatial systems in
the industry with SpatialCDE, in terms of
spatial data management and how it is
already delivering against project vectors
such as BNG requirements and its projected
benefits. An exemplar of how innovation in
BNG techniques can guarantee the
provision of essential infrastructure but not at
the expense of biodiversity, the system also
demonstrates best practice in how to meet
the new Environment Act 2021.
AtkinsRéalis with Esri ArcGIS were winners
of the Sustainability Project of the Year
category at the recent Construction
Computing Awards.
www.esriuk.com/aec
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