Be Inspired Awards 2014: Honouring Infra Innovation

“I thank the Be Inspired Awards winners for their valuable contributions to sustaining infrastructure and improving quality of life around the world” – Greg Bentley, CEO, Bentley Systems at Be Inspired Awards 2014

Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure 2014 Conference was held in the Hilton London Metropole from November 4-6. The threeday event was attended by executives from global architecture, engineering and construction markets.

The annual Be Inspired Awards competition, part of the Conference, also brought together infrastructure professionals and members of academia from around the globe. On the last day of the Conference, Bentley announced the winners of the awards, which honour the extraordinary work of Bentley users in improving and sustaining the world’s infrastructure. Nine independent panels of jurors, comprising industry experts, selected the 54 finalists from nominations submitted by organisations in 49 countries.

The Be Inspired Awards competition has recognised more than 2,000 of the world’s most outstanding infrastructure projects since its inception in 2004. This unique competition, the only one of its kind that is global in scope and comprehensive in categories covered, encompasses all types of infrastructure projects.

At this year’s awards ceremony, 18 Be Inspired award winners and 7 Be Inspired Special Recognition award winners were announced. In addition, the recipient of the Bentley Educator of the Year award, Artur Krawczyk, PhD, a lecturer at AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland, was acknowledged.

Technology in Street Works (Midlands, UK) — by Severn Trent Water Enterprise deployments providing efficient operation, inspection, maintenance, and management of infrastructure assets. Project showed improved reliability, integrity, performance, and operational efficiency and effectiveness, along with enhanced safety and reduced risk.Severn trent water provides drinking water to 7.4 million people and waste services to 8.5 million people. to meet the new u.k. electronic transfer of notifications (eton 6) regulatory requirements, the company developed an asset management solution for 1,000 key business users. the solution avoids hefty penalties and charges from 36 highway authorities in its operating area, and sends 330,000 compliant notices to the highway authority. the use of exor ensured compliance throughout the asset management systems by providing an oracle-based platform integrated into severn trent water’s core systems. by providing two-way exchange from a central base (23 people) to field mobile devices and contract portal interfaces (six departments and 1,000 indirect users), the system enables collaboration and aligns assets for end-to-end asset management.>

Second Wuhu Yangtze River Highway Bridge (Wuhu, Anhui, China) – by Anhui Transport Consulting & Design Institute Technical innovation and applied engineering principles, along with the positive impact on local infrastructure socially, economically, and environmentally.The Second Wuhu Yangtze River Highway Bridge under construction in Wuhu, Anhui, China, will improve the regional highway network and promote economic and social development in central China. Connected to the Wuhu-Tongling Freeway, the CNY 9.45 billion 57 km project includes a 13 km long bridge, with extensions of 23 and 21 kms on the north and south banks, respectively. The bridge is notable as the largest assembly of whole steel beam sections, and the longest cable-stayed span with four cable planes. Working in the ProjectWise collaborative environment with 3D bridge design solutions by Bentley, Anhui Transport Consulting & Design Institute carried out design and review 20% more efficiently, and shortened design delivery time by eight weeks. The resulting 3D information model will reduce operation and maintenance costs by an estimated $2 million.

Emerson College (Los Angeles, California, US) – by Morphosis Architects Planning, designing, building, modelling, analyzing, and operating a college buildingThis mixed-use facility establishes Boston-based Emerson’s identity in Los Angeles, California. Designed by Morphosis Architects to be a magnet for activity, it provides an iconic setting for premieres, events, and student showcases. The new USD 85 million facility will also host workshops, lectures, and other events. The investment in BIM on this project allowed for seamless workflows among the architect, project consultants, and subcontractors, so detailed 3D models could easily be shared among all key stakeholders. This integrated approach — largely built on AECOsim Building Designer, GenerativeComponents, MicroStation, Bentley Navigator, and ProjectWise – allowed the project team to deliver a state-of-the-art academic building on schedule and on budget.

EPC Success Using ConstructSim (Houston, Texas, US) — by Jacobs Project demonstrated a clear return on investment, avoiding overruns, and resulting in advanced work processes especially with the construction workforce to the benefit of all stakeholders.Using ConstructSim, Jacobs successfully completed automated data exchanges for real-time status reports on engineering, materials, vendor fabrication, drawing transmittals, schedule, productivity, and turnover system. The reduction of dedicated workface planning managers on individual projects saved over $1 million, while standardisation of project setup saved approximately $460,000.

Spatial Data Infrastructure for Ireland (Dublin, Ireland) – by Ordnance Survey Ireland A federal government project leveraging engineering content management and team collaboration.Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi), the national mapping agency, has developed a standardised, authoritative digital referencing framework that enables consistent referencing and integration of national data related to location. This framework, known as Prime2, allows data users to accurately integrate and use multiple data sources for improved analysis and decision-making, resource optimisation, and efficiency gains.

Marikina North Project (Marikina City, Philippines) — by Manila Water Company The design and planning significantly reduced the environmental, financial, technical, and social risks involved in constructing the facilities with the reduction in total number of pumps.The goal of this project was to treat wastewater generated from Marikina City in the Philippines prior to discharge into the river. It encompassed the construction of a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 100 million litres of treated water per day and a 23 km sewer network.

Montevideo Multipurpose Harbour (Montevideo, Uruguay) – by Cathie Associates A combination of technical innovation through engineering and software, good project management, and a clear return on investmentOn this project by the National Ports Administration of Uruguay, Cathie Associates was contracted to evaluate issues encountered during the construction of dock foundations. The engineering challenge was the hard ground conditions that caused problems during the installation of foundation piles. The $73 million project reassessed the soil profile and engineering parameters, designed the piles, and evaluated pile drivability. The company used gINT to interpret soil data, define soil profile and design parameters, estimate pile penetration into the soil, and localise boreholes performed on site. The reassessment of pile design saved the cost of 344 steel piles and one year in delivery time.

Port of Miami Tunnel and Access Improvements (Miami, Florida, US) — by Jacobs and Bouygues Civil Works, Florida. Established collaborative workflows sharing project information among multiple contractors demonstrating clear return on investment.The Florida Department of Transportation studied the feasibility of a tunnel connecting Miami’s highway system directly to Port Miami. Teams from Jacobs and Bouygues Civil Works, Florida used ProjectWise to exchange information not only among the design teams that participated in this project, but also among the construction teams. Enabling work sharing, content reuse, and real-time feedback, MicroStation, Power GEOPAK, LEAP, and STAAD were deployed on this megaproject. They delivered a high return on innovation and allowed the user to produce the most cost-efficient solution and avoid unnecessary and costly redesigns.

Constancia Project (Chamaca and Livitaca, Chumbivilcas, Peru) – by Ausenco Planning, engineering, construction, operations, and analysis of mining operations.Ausenco was engaged by Hudbay Peru SAC to provide engineering, procurement, construction, and management services for the USD 1.75 billion Constancia Project. Working 4,100 metres above sea level in a remote part of the Andes, the team managed data across people, disciplines, and multiple locations. Collaboration among Brisbane, Toronto, and Peru to align existing systems, expertise, and processes was critical to the successful delivery of the project. Using ProjectWise with AutoPLANT, Ausenco was able to bring these disparate engineering teams together, reducing errors and increasing the data integrity throughout the lifecycle of the project. Ausenco implemented more efficient work processes not only on the Constancia Project, but also for all subsequent projects. ProjectWise enabled the tracking of changes on drawings as well as the linking to other systems such as Oracle and Prism, enabling Ausenco to more easily obtain the documents for regulatory and compliance requirements.

SHWE Transportation and Installation (Bay of Bengal, Myanmar) — by Dockwise Shipping Planning, design, construction in the marine environment taking into consideration safety, environmental impact, and business drivers.The $1.5 billion SHWE gas field development project at the Bay of Bengal, Myanmar, required transportation and installation of a massive 22,000 metric ton jacket and 30,000 metric ton topsides with deck support frame. The contract was awarded to Dockwise by EPCI contractor Hyundai Heavy Industries. Dockwise performed the operation and engineering for the jacket transportation, jacket launch, topsides transportation, and topsides float-over. Dockwise spread the work among its three design centres in the Netherlands, United States, and China. An innovative bottle-shaped barge design to transport these massive structures was produced using MOSES and SACS, and data access, accuracy, traceability, and workflow were addressed by managing files in ProjectWise. These solutions saved about 5,000 of the 30,000 man-hours estimated for execution and reduced the four operational days offshore by half.

Development of Decommissioning Engineering Platform Based on Plant 3D Model (Japan) — by Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Planning, analyzing and establishing a safe, rational plan for demolition of nuclear power facilities.The Japanese government has begun decommissioning all nuclear reactors that are more than 40 years old. Decommissioning nuclear power plants takes as many as several thousand workers, 10 years, and a cost of JPY 36 to 77 billion per reactor. The objective of this project is to accurately calculate the amount of waste materials that must be managed as radioactive substances for each nuclear power plant. Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy assessed the radiation dose for workers, the number of man-hours and amount of radioactive waste materials generated from demolition, demolition procedure data, and residual radioactivity with the help of 3D models in MicroStation — establishing a safe, rational plan for demolition that will be used in the future planning of decommissioning projects.

LPG Import and Storage Terminal (Saldanha Bay, Western Cape, South Africa) – by 3D Draughting Design and construction of process manufacturing facility resulting in the improved efficiency of engineering reviews and reduced decision errors and design clashes, providing for significantly more accurate fabricator contract management.The scope of this project for Sunrise Energy included the mechanical design of the Sunrise Energy LPG Import and Storage Terminal, located in the port of Saldanha Bay, South Africa. 3D Draughting used AutoPIPE, MicroStation, Bentley Navigator, Bentley OpenPlant, ProjectWise, ProSteel and RAM for the engineering challenges that included the highly sequential execution requirements of the project. The 3D design improved the efficiency of engineering reviews and reduced decision errors and design clashes, providing for significantly more accurate fabricator contract management.

Tehachapi Mountains Double Track Project (Tehachapi, California, US) — by J.L. Patterson & Associates Project collaboration and information sharing via enhanced information mobility in project delivery.This $80 million project aimed to improve the transport capacities of freight moving from the San Joaquin Valley in California to the eastern United States in an efficient and timely manner while reducing operational constraints. The project encompassed the construction of double-track segments in five locations. The design was performed using MicroStation and Bentley Rail Track, which quickly defined the areas of potentially adverse effects on the environmental footprint from excessive cuts or fills, impacts to wetlands, and sensitive species. By using ProjectWise to share information between offices and MicroStationGeoGraphics to shorten the field verification process, J.L. Patterson & Associates reduced the time the staff would spend working an active freight rail corridor, thereby reducing the risk of job-site injuries, and also reducing project delivery, design, and construction time.

Intelligent Rail Signal Design via 2D Schematics and 3D Models (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) – by Hatch Mott MacDonald Intelligent rail design system. Technology implementation resulted in reduced design time, improved accuracy, and enabled standardisation.Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM) invested an estimated CAN $150,000 to develop an intelligent rail signal design system that will reduce design time, improve accuracy, and enable standardisation. The system will automate project template creation and streamline basic design checking processes, as well as provide a single database for content building. HMM targeted five functional categories for development: content building through a custom-made promis•e rail signals database; API project building to enable creation of an accurate 75% preliminary design; engineering design considerations with promis•e’s automated checking tools; documentation detailing design workflows; and SQL Server and ProjectWise integration to enable sharing of drawings and access to the promis•e database. The system reduces design-phase costs by 20-35%.

The Waterview Connection (Auckland, New Zealand) – by Well-Connected Alliance Enhanced transportation infrastructure that has resulted in reduced travel time and congestion, while improving network reliability and resilience.The challenge was to design and construct a 4.8 km section of a 48 km ring road around Auckland, New Zealand. Known as The Waterview Connection, the NZD 1.4 billion project includes 2.4 kms of tunnels bored 45 metres deep to avoid volcanic layers. Tunnel size and rock density presented extreme challenges. Using Bentley MXROAD and MicroStation for road design, tunnel modelling, and structural modelling greatly reduced design phase time. Using ProjectWise saved about NZD 500,000 in man-hours and reduced document control time to an absolute minimum.

Five-hundred Metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (Karst, Guizhou, China) – by Beijing Building Construction Research Institute, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design; National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences Use of technical innovation to deliver high-quality structure and improved structural project workflow.One of the top nine science and technology infrastructures in China, the 500-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope will be the largest single-aperture telescope on Earth. Its antenna aperture is 500 metres, which is as big as 30 standard football fields. Its cable net structure consists of 6,670 main cables and 2,225 downhaul cables, and the weight of the cable wheel alone is 216 tons. The reflector consists of 4,600 reflector units installed on the cable net. From site selection and design to construction, the team deployed BIM technology in the form of AECOsim Building Designer, MicroStation, Bentley Navigator, ProjectWise, and ProSteel.

An Enterprise GIS Strategy for Increased Revenue and Lower Costs Using Bentley’s Communications Solution (Centennial, Colorado, US) – by Time Warner Cable Design and operation of communications networks showcasing a clear return on investment Seafield Wastewater Treatment Works Thermal Hydrolysis Plant (Edinburgh, UK) – by MWH Excellence in effective collaboration among the process of wastewater conveyance. Anamika Das,Time Warner Cable deployed the Bentley Communications solution in an engineering design process that drives all asset information to a centralised, asset repository. This GIS repository serves as the system of record for all other operations support systems. The project improved the commercial speed of design and build-out. With access to accurate information about existing network assets and enhanced engineering capabilities, Time Warner Cable has reduced the cost of project delivery for new network infrastructure projects. The new environment provides an accurate view of all network assets, allowing for faster pinpointing of outages and faster plant location, and avoiding unnecessary truck rolls.

Seafield Wastewater Treatment Works Thermal Hydrolysis Plant (Edinburgh, UK) – by MWH Excellence in effective collaboration among the process of wastewater conveyance.The goal of this GBP 14 million project was to enhance treated sludge through pre-treatment (thermal hydrolysis) prior to its entering the digestion system, which now would produce a treated product with a 99.99% pathogen kill. This enables the sludge to be used in agriculture. Owner Stirling Water also aspired to make Seafield the first 100% energy self-sufficient wastewater treatment works in Scotland. MWH used AECOsim Building Designer, AutoPLANT, MicroStation, Bentley Navigator, Bentley OpenPlant, and ProjectWise. The Bentley OpenPlant 3D model, in particular, enabled MWH to provide effective collaboration among the process pipework fabricator, odor control supplier, and cable-routing subcontractor. Sharing the pipework model allowed MWH to change how it checked and approved detail pipework. Instead of issuing drawings, it reviewed any changes to pipework electronically.