Bentley Systems Salutes Its Software Users for Their Contributions to London’s Infrastructure

CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

6 August 2012

Implementation Investments

Bentley Systems Salutes Its Software Users for Their Contributions to London’s Infrastructure

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, today commended its users for their contributions to London’s built environment. London residents and visitors are benefiting from Bentley users’ recent work leveraging information modeling through integrated projects for the creation and operation of better-performing, intelligent infrastructure including skyscrapers, office complexes, transportation systems, sports venues, and more.

Information Modeling

Information modeling empowers designers, builders, and owner-operators to simulate the performance of an asset before it’s built, assuring it will be constructed and perform according to design intent, and maximizing its useful life. To achieve the required quality, performance, and value-add in designing and constructing sports venues in London – while also meeting tight deadlines – Bentley users employed Bentley Systems’ building information modeling (BIM) software to take full advantage of information mobility across project phases and disciplines. Examples of these users and their respective venue work include:

Arup – Aquatics Centre, Handball Arena
Buro Happold – Stadium
Edge Structures – Aquatics Centre
Hopkins Architects – Velodrome
Make Architects – Handball Arena
Populous – Stadium
Wilkinson Eyre – Basketball Arena

Previously, Edge Structures coordinated the structural design work at the All England Club in London for redevelopment of the east stand of Wimbledon’s Centre Court. This included extending the terrace to provide an additional six rows of seating and adding a retractable roof for adverse weather conditions.

Edge Structures used Bentley’s BIM software, including Structural Modeler, to design the facility improvements for the new retractable roof. In addition, Structural Modeler and MicroStation were used in the development stages of the design and the integration of other professionals’ work in 3D, minimizing the design resource requirements. This achieved the extremely tight project schedules that resulted from the refurbishment having to be completed in stages between tournaments. For additional details, click here.

Global design, engineering, and management consultancy WSP resolved comparable difficult challenges in its structural design solution for The Shard at London Bridge Quarter, a 95-story skyscraper.

Inaugurated last month, this tallest building in Western Europe is comprised of multiple glass shards that merge to form an elongated pyramid, creating a highly complex structure. WSP used Bentley’s RAM information modeling software to meet the design goals of maximum space, minimum construction cost, and optimum safety – all while reducing the steel tonnage to half of what it was in the original schema and providing a sustainable design that used 20 percent recycled steelwork.

Bentley and its commissioned architect, BDP, leveraged information modeling in the recent space redesign of its new U.K. headquarters at 20 Gracechurch Street in London. This facility, with the help of AECOsim Energy Simulator – Bentley’s unique application for the immersive design, simulation, and analysis of building mechanical systems, environmental conditions, and energy performance – was just awarded a “Very Good” BREEAM rating.

Integrated Projects

Information modeling realizes its full potential through integrated projects, and Bentley users in London continue to innovate in delivery methods. U.K. users particularly recognize that the complexities of large-scale, distributed projects are best met through “collaborative BIM,” which is why Bentley’s ProjectWise system of servers and services was chosen as the engineering content management and collaboration system for the integrated projects that delivered the sports venues listed earlier.

Renowned design, planning, engineering, consulting, and technical specialist firm Arup highlighted ProjectWise in its contribution to the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA’s) Learning Legacy website – which the ODA established as a virtual legacy of its benchmark-setting integrated project work. The ODA asked its contractors to post lessons learned on the site, and Arup’s discussions, which also included a look at project contributions by Atkins and others, can be accessed by clicking here.

One of the ODA’s first integrated project innovations was its appointment of a consortium – comprising CH2M HILL, Laing O’Rourke, and Mace (CLM) – as its Delivery Partner. As noted on the ODA’s Learning Legacy website, CLM selected Bentley to provide the project’s engineering content management and collaboration system, to be made available to all of its contractors. For additional information, click here.

ProjectWise enables London’s architectural, engineering, construction, and operations community to more effectively work together by way of BS 1192, the standard work process that is crucial to implementing the U.K.’s Government Construction Strategy of May 2011. The strategy mandates the use of fully collaborative BIM by 2016. ProjectWise is enabling Bentley users across the U.K. to accordingly incorporate BS 1192 best practices to minimize risk and to assure timely project completion.

Intelligent Infrastructure

Collaborative BIM leveraged through integrated projects extends the benefits of information modeling throughout the lifecycle of the infrastructure asset, into operations and maintenance. This results in better-performing, intelligent infrastructure that provides owner-operators with a greater return on their investments. Examples of Bentley users whose operations work, empowered by Bentley’s AssetWise software, currently is benefiting London residents and visitors include:

Transport for London (TfL) – TfL’s use of Bentley’s Exor-based Roadworks Online service is helping speed roadwork completions by enabling its breakthrough Lane Rental scheme. Designed to incentivize utility companies to work more efficiently and reduce travel delays, the scheme applies to any utility or TfL works carried out on the road network. By encouraging utility companies and highway authorities to perform work during off-peak hours, road users benefit from more reliable travel times and fewer delays. As an added benefit, the new scheme helped ensure that all planned roadwork in London for the first half of 2012 was completed by the government-mandated July 1 deadline.
Utility roadwork crews in London – These users have been taking advantage of the Intelligent Trench Service (an underground mapping solution from Bentley, 3M, Trac-ID, and Infotec used with PelicanCorp’s beforeUdig service) to complete roadworks in advance of the July 1 mandated deadline. This service enables authorities and contractors to use Bentley’s Intelligent Trench portal to access utility plan information directly through the beforeUdig service. Intelligent Trench combines radio frequency identification asset marking, GPS, an Exor spatial asset database from Bentley, and noninvasive surveying methods to enable excavations to be accurately and cost-effectively recorded, photographed, and mapped on a web portal. The service, which enables contractors and utilities to plan targeted excavations, results in fewer exploratory digs, reduced damage to underground assets, and improved on-site safety.

Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley said, “We at Bentley Systems have long recognized the U.K., and London in particular, for its uniquely farsighted approaches and thought leadership in sustaining infrastructure. We are proud to have helped Bentley users in surpassing requirements and meeting deadlines. Moreover, they’ve done so well, thanks to information modeling through integrated projects, that the intelligent infrastructure they’ve created is not only improving the experience of residents and visitors to London now, but also will help sustain London’s infrastructure leadership, and thus its economic growth, well into the future.”

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