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Autodesk Customer Success Story Cole Engine

OMPANY

Cole Engineering

OCATION

Ontario, Canada

OFTWARE

AutodeskInfraWorks

AutodeskAutoCADCivil 3D

A winning alternative for civilinfrastructure design

InfraWorks helps Cole Engineeringvisualize and expedite its detailed Civil 3Dinfrastructure designs

Seeing our design against the

municipal backdrop simplified,

and therefore expedited, our

design investigations and helped

us shorten the delivery of ourdesign. We were able to quickly

identify and resolve design issues

in this virtual environment

identifying potential utility

conflicts, right-of-way concerns,

and constructability issues.

Alan WinterGeneral Manager, Greater TorontoArea West officeCole Engineering Group, Ltd.

The firm

Based in Ontario, Cole Engineering Group isa multidisciplined consulting engineering firmserving clients in the public and private sectors.In 2009, the Canadian firm adopted 3D modelingtechniques and Building Information Modeling(BIM) workflows. They started using AutodeskAutoCADCivil 3D software to generate proposalsand detailed designs for its land development,transportation, water resources, and municipal

infrastructure projects. In 2012, the firm also beganusing AutodeskInfraWorkssoftware to developpre-engineering design proposals and support 3Dproject visualization throughout the design process.

Unfortunately, the widespread use of design-timevisualization does not extend to civil engineeringand infrastructure projects, says Jeff Lyons, AECsolutions business unit leader at Cole Engineering.At Cole Engineering, were changing that andusing project visualizations to improve the designand delivery of our infrastructure projects.

The project

The firms first InfraWorks project is a C$150-million water distribution project for the Regioof Peel, a southern Ontario regional municipalThe project involves the design and constructiof approximately 40 kilometers of pipeline betBrampton (a large urban municipality) and themore rural town of Caledon. New water mainbeing installed to meet water demands for futdevelopment in the area by connecting severa

water storage facilities.

Most of the water mains will be constructed inopen trenches alongside existing roads. In somcases, the pipes will run underneath highwaysbusy intersections, railway beds, and creeks, wwill require jack and bore tunnel constructiontechniques. The project features four differentconstruction contracts and four matching detadesign phases. Cole Engineering was awardedthe contract for detailed design and contractadministration of the project in October 2012

The project involves the design and construction of approximately 40 kilometers of pipeline. Image courtesy of Cole Engine

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The challengeAt our first post-award meeting, the client handeds a massive schedule change, recalls Alan Winter,he firms general manager for its Greater Toronto

Area West (GTA West) office. They chopped aear off the schedule for the first design segment,eaving us just seven months to complete the firstonstruction contract. The Region of Peel hadn urgent need to supplement its existing waterupply, as future developments were already

well underway, with some homes built, sold,nd anxiously awaiting water hookups.

n addition to the time crunch, the accelerated

roject schedule produced another designhallenge. The regional municipality had nome to acquire extra property beyond its ownght-of-way. As a result, all the new mains hado fit into existing municipal properties andompete for space with existing buried utilities.

The solutionIn the proposal stage, Cole Engineering usedInfraWorks to consolidate different data files (suchas 2D CAD, GIS, raster, and 3D models) to createan existing conditions model. Then the teamdeveloped its pre-engineering design with Civil 3Dsoftware and imported that design into InfraWorksto create project visualizations and simulations inthe context of the surrounding neighborhoodshelping the firm distinguish its proposal from itscompetitors and secure the contract.

For its detailed design, Cole Engineering isusing Civil 3D and InfraWorks in combination to

develop, visualize, and communicate the projectin the context of the existing environment. Mostengineering firms still rely on traditional 2D plansand profiles to communicate design alternativesand concepts for civil infrastructure projects, saysLyons. But with our transition to BIM, we nowuse visual communication tools to inform decisionmaking during the design process and to conveythose designshelping clients, municipal agencies,and public stakeholders better understand thedesign and the impact of that design on thesurrounding environment.

Use InfraWorks to visualize infrastructure projects throughoutthe design process

Conceptualize designs in contextTo develop the project proposal, Cole Engineecombined a variety of publicly available dataseto create a model of the existing projectarea in InfraWorks. These datasets included:orthophotography and a digital elevation mod(DEM) of the existing terrain from airborne surGIS information that contained property, rightway, and utility data; and digitized features suas trees, poles, lights, building pads, railway liand roads. The firm added other existing featuthat would influence the design (such as watetowers and bridges) to complete the model ofsurrounding area.

Using Civil 3D, the firm developed a designproposal for the water mains, trenches, shaftsand tunnels, and imported that design datainto InfraWorks for project visualization. Wheit comes to design communication, theres noquestion that 3D project visualizations are farsuperior to 2D drawings, says Winter. Theyhelp clients and other project stakeholders qugrasp the entire scope of a complex design,regardless of their engineering background.

or its detailed design, the firm is using Civil 3D and InfraWorks in combination to design, visualize, and communicate the project. Image courtesy of Cole Engineering.

Autodesk Customer Success Story

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ole Engineering relied on the IMX file format toransfer data between Civil 3D and InfraWorks.nfraWorks software maintained a live link to

he IMX file containing all relevant Civil 3D designnformation, explains Lyons. When there werehanges to the Civil 3D model, all we had to do

was click Refresh to update our InfraWorksmodel and visualizations.

When the concept-level design was complete,ole Engineering created a series of high-leveloncept images and animation sequences of itsrtual design model that were included in its

roposal package for the client. Our InfraWorksmodel was developed over just a two-weekeriod, says Winter. After we got the projectontract, the only concern the client had was thatur use of the InfraWorks project visualizationset the bar too high for other firms bidding onuture projects.

Visualize infrastructure designs

On winning the contract, Cole Engineeringommissioned a high-definition, truck mounted

mobile LiDAR survey, replacing the airborneEM used during the proposal phase with aery precise ground survey. The survey datancluded documented survey codes that, whenmported into Civil 3D and InfraWorks, enabledhe applications to automatically generate theppropriate 3D model objects such as trees,elephone poles, hydrants, and so forth. Theew schedule didnt allow us time to perform aonventional ground survey, says Winter. Thisruck mounted mobile LiDAR gave us the samenformation with the same quality and accuracy,ut much faster.

Cole Engineering used Civil 3D software to modelthe detailed design, including alignments, profiles,and sections for the pipes and trenches. Wewere able to layer in all the different databases, sowe knew exactly where the utilities were, wherethe property lines were, and therefore where weshould dig our trenches, says Winter. We couldeven identify which trees on private property mightbe impacted by the digging.

To visualize the detailed design in the context ofthe surrounding environment, Cole Engineeringonce again imported its Civil 3D model to

InfraWorks and created new still images andanimated videos of the detailed design. Weeven used InfraWorks to help our client visualizeproject construction, says Lyons. We simulatedconstruction staging areas to help themunderstand space requirements and determinethe impact on road and pedestrian traffic, andhazardous intersections and railway crossings.

Seeing our design against the municipal backdropsimplified, and therefore expedited, our designinvestigations and helped us shorten the deliveryof our design, says Winter. We were able toquickly identify and resolve design issues inthis virtual environmentidentifying potential

utility conflicts, right-of-way concerns, andconstructability issues. In addition, ColeEngineerings images and animations helped theclient better understand the design and assess itsimpact on neighboring businesses and homes.

Cole Engineering could identify which trees located on p

property might be impacted by the trenching. Image co

of Cole Engineering.

Unfortunately, the widespread us

of design-time visualization doesnot extend to civil engineering an

infrastructure projects. At Cole

Engineering, were changing that

and using project visualizations to

improve the design and delivery o

our infrastructure projects.

Jeff Lyons

Business Unit Leader for AEC SolutionsCole Engineering Group, Ltd.

Improve public outreach

Some of the videos Cole Engineering created fthe Region of Peel merge InfraWorks animatiowith real aerial and ground footage, andinclude narration that explains the project, theconstruction techniques in use, and the mitigaand restoration measures in place. As the projprogresses, these videos will be shown on theRegion of Peel website, helping to communicathe design to the publicinforming affectedproperty owners about the work that will behappening outside their door and allayingconcerns about the project.

Its not surprising that 3D models andvisualizations are better at conveying designs tare, after all, 3D in nature, says Lyons. But inthe past, producing visualizations of infrastrucprojectsparticularly those that portrayed thedesign in the context of the surroundingenvironmentwere very expensive and/or timconsuming to create. With InfraWorks, thesevisualizations are very easy and inexpensiveto create.

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Visually enhance design information

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, and InfraWorks are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliatesin the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reservesthe right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

2013 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Autodesk Customer Success Story

he InfraWorks model even includes InfoTips, austom application created by Cole Engineeringo dynamically display Civil 3D design data within

nfraWorks. As a designer reviews the InfraWorksmodel, there are visual Infotip balloons (pre-alculated Point of Interest Dataset Markers)oating over important design elements. When the

nfraWorks user clicks on the balloon, a windowops up providing pertinent design information.or example, there are InfoTips hovering above allipeline and utility crossings that display the pipes

D and network name, the type of utility and its ID,he distance between the pipe and the utility, as

well as the diameter and elevations of the top andottomf the pipe and the utility.

These are more than just static displays of design

nformation, says Lyons. The InfoTips includeeal-time links back to the original Civil 3D design

models. When the model changes, the informationisplayed by the InfoTips automatically updatess wellhelping to ensure our project team isccessing and visualizing accurate, up-to-date

esign information.

The result

The design of the first phase of the project iscomplete and the bidding process for construction

is underway. Cole Engineering successfully metthe project schedule of this first phase and iscurrently using Civil 3D and InfraWorks on theremaining three phases of its detailed design.

We pride ourselves on being proactive versusreactive when it comes to design issues, saysWinter. By using InfraWorks to visualize ourdesign as it progresses, we can quickly andeasily identify and resolve problems and presentproposed solutions to the client. We can showthem exactly what the problem is and how tosolve itexpediting the entire decision-makingprocess. When time is of the essence, InfraWorksprovides invaluable tools.

BIM and InfraWorks enable us to more fullyexperiment with and review our concept-levelplanning, and more accurately build and analyzeour detailed designs, says Lyons. The end resultis a more realistic, precise, and valuable digitalsubmission process for our clients.

For more information, visitwww.autodesk.com/infraworks

he firm brought together various data types to create the model in InfraWorks. Image courtesy of Cole Engineering.

Data types included truck mounted mobile LiDar which

used to add additional detail to the designs. Image cour

of Tullock Mapping Solutions..

Cole Engine

After we got the project contrac

the only concern the client hadwas that our use of the Infra-

Works project visualizations set

the bar too high for other firms

bidding on future projects.

Alan Winter

General Manager, Greater Toronto AreaWest officeCole Engineering Group, Ltd.