Transforming and Accelerating Transportation ...

Autodesk InfraWorks allow planners and public sector decision makers to see clearly what a potential project will look like, how it will impact the local environment, and how it can be accomplished structurally.

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Transforming and Accelerating Transportation Infrastructure Design DOTs go beyond traditional CAD platforms to design in context, better communicate design intent, accelerate approvals and improve highway safety

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, roads are the world’s top infrastructure segment in terms of investment. Here in the U.S. increasing traffic and an aging infrastructure is making it more important than ever to build new or rehabilitate existing transportation systems. These projects are becoming increasingly larger and complex, yet funding levels have continued to drop and traditional design methods aren’t cutting it anymore. For instance, departments of transportation (DOTs) have little time or money to waste on outdated 2D paper plans and proposals to gain approval and consensus on roadway projects. When it comes to aligning technical and non-technical stakeholders on the best design option to pursue, charts on easels and 2D plans only engineers can understand are woefully inadequate. In part, it’s this urgent need to dramatically accelerate the bid, proposal and preliminary design processes and manage the scale for all infrastructure projects that led Autodesk to launch Autodesk® InfraWorks™ and Autodesk® InfraWorks™ 360 (which builds on InfraWorks with cloud collaboration capabilities). Together InfraWorks and InfraWorks 360 provide breakthrough 3D modeling, visualization technology and cloud capabilities for desktop, web, and mobile that goes beyond traditional CAD and GIS platforms and supports Building Information Modeling (BIM) workflows. Autodesk InfraWorks software is making a difference for governments around the world. Rather than undertaking new projects blindly, InfraWorks allow planners and public sector decision makers to see clearly what a potential project will look like, how it will impact the local environment, and how it can be accomplished structurally. This paper explores the many benefits that visualization technology that Autodesk InfraWorks can deliver, along with case study examples of how transportation agencies are reaping the benefits.

Adding another dimension to the transportation design process

While CAD processes have long since changed the way that design teams completed projects, what they failed to accomplish for a long time was how DOTs planned and designed highways. Today civil engineers are dealing with bigger amounts of data, bigger and more complex projects, and the need to reach a bigger group of stakeholders. Quite an undertaking. But what if you could take data from existing 2D CAD, 3D models, raster, City GML, satellite imagery, and point clouds to tackle challenges with a fresh approach?

Fortunately, Autodesk is providing the solutions that DOTs need to drive change in the way they work and accelerate the design and management of large-scale infrastructure projects. With Autodesk InfraWorks, agencies can create large-scale infrastructure models from existing data sources, then centrally publish, store and manage them in a secure cloud environment. Because these models are created at the beginning of a project, engineers can more easily generate preliminary design proposals with a level of detail previously unimaginable. InfraWorks models can include the full 3D context of the surrounding area of a project, like a city or even an entire country, allowing engineers and planners to get a good sense of the project constraints, challenges, hazards to avoid, as well as opportunities in real time, enabling them to make better decisions about the constructability of a project. Models can be incorporated from AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Map 3D, 3ds Max Design, and Navisworks. Conceptual designs can also be imported back into design software like Civil 3D for the detailed design phase.

Project visualization and design exploration

Visualizing design scenarios isn’t a new concept; however, these models used to be prohibitively expensive and were rarely used in government. With the advent of 3D and tools like Autodesk InfraWorks, these tools are now available and in used by numerous DOTs including New Mexico DOT, California DOT and Alaska DOT.With InfraWorks, visualization features are more accessible than ever. Engineers can now:


• Developconvincingprojectproposalsandpresentplansto the many constituents involved in approving and building a transportation project.

• Presentdesignalternativesmoreaccuratelyinthecontextofthe existing environment

• Addultra-realisticvisualeffectsmakingiteasiertocommunicate design concepts with photorealistic rendering tools that add dynamic sun and shadows, realistic water, and animated clouds.

These design exploration features can prove invaluable during the early stages of a project. For instance, when designing a new transportation corridor, InfraWorks can be used to establish existing conditions by compiling existing GIS data, such as existing roads, aerial photographs, utilities etc.

Conceptual designs are then created and analyzed and used to determine the best route, while taking into consideration a number of factors including budget, environmental impact, and the stakeholder’s needs – all of which could have potential impacts that could delay the design process.

Another example comes from the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT). In the spring of 2013, NMDOT piloted the use of InfraWorks to develop project animations for the visualization of a complicated roadway rehabilitation project on the verge of completion:theI-10/I-25InterchangeImprovementsProject.

This newly built interchange is located at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 25 at Las Cruces. The project features the replacement of two ramps (one with a new fly-over bridge), the reconstruction of two bridges to current standards, the realignment of several frontage roads, and expanded ramp entrance and exit lanes. NMDOT used Autodesk InfraWorks software to create a 3D visualization model of the project, including the new interchange as well as imported aerial photography, digital terrain models, and survey data of the surrounding terrain.

Speaking to CENews, NMDOT cited a range of anticipated benefits, such as cost savings due to reduced change orders, improved public input using model-based visualizations, and accelerated construction using BIM solutions to support machine-controlled grading.

Getting input from the public and other stakeholders

With large transportation projects, public meetings and consultations often spur design changes. Most people don’t know how to read traditional 2D drawings, so a 3D drive through or fly-by of the project immediately communicates the engineer’s design intent. By showing people a photo-realistic rendering of what the project might look like from different perspectives, consultations with the public, with contractors and other government agencies can be more productive and efficient.

Using model-based visualizations is a great way of doing this.

InfraWorks 360’s cloud-based capabilities, in particular, allow multi-disciplinary stakeholders across disparate locations to better review design intent and provide real-time feedback from anywhere –desktop,web,ormobile.Projectteamscan:

• Seeallcommentsforspecificpublishedproposalsandscenarios• Replytocommentsmadebyothers• Findandmarkissuesthathavebeenresolved

NMDOT’sI-10/I-25InterchangeImprovementsProjectisanexcellent example of how InfraWorks can be used to communicate design intent.

Having created a 3D visualization model of the project (discussed above), including the new interchange as well as imported aerial photography, digital terrain models, and survey data of the surrounding terrain, NMDOT then went on to use InfraWorks to create an animated movie of the new interchange. Set in the context of the existing surroundings, viewers could virtually fly-over and drive through the redesigned interchange to get a much better understanding of the new construction.

The movie can be viewed here: www.acronymonline.org/dot-switch-autodesk

Following this pilot, NMDOT focused on another critical transportation project involving the Cambray Bridge on NM-549, an historical railroad overpass that posed a range of safety concerns. Challenged with upgrading the bridge to current standards, NMDOT used InfraWorks to model its proposal for a new bridge and the surrounding terrain, creating project visualizations that were used for public outreach.

NMDOT piloted the use of InfraWorks to develop project animations for the visualization of a complicated roadway rehabilitation project on the vergeofcompletion:theI-10/I-25InterchangeImprovementsProject.

NMDOT animated movie of the DOT’s I-10/I-25 Interchange Improve-mentsProject.CreatedusingInfraWorks,theassetallowsviewerstovirtually fly-over and drive through the redesigned interchange to get a much better understanding of the new construction.


Accelerate approvals

InfraWorks addresses another time-consuming aspect of the design process – getting the necessary approvals and permits required by large roadway infrastructure projects. These involve a number or federal, state and county level environmental agencies, water management regulatory bodies, as well as the actual counties and cities impacted by the projects.

In the past, the information and drawings required by these entities would have been provided in a one-off, as-needed basis. But the design process is an iterative one. As design changes inevitably occur, documents would require frequent updating and dissemination, without much in-person interaction between the reviewer and the design team. Every comment and miscommunication can cost the design team time and money.

InfraWorks mitigates these delays by allowing DOTs to share models and specific scenarios that convey design options and intent and demonstrate that you’re keeping their needs and concerns in mind – speeding the approvals process. By walking reviewers through a virtual tour of the model in real-time DOTs can help them better understand how their assets are part of the project as a whole, whether it’s the rights of way or buffer zones, or the pipes and manholes themselves. Different alternatives can be more easily discussed and incorporated into the model after the preliminary design has been submitted.

Putting safety first

With Autodesk InfraWorks, engineers and designers can also use 3D models to explore safety aspects of highway projects in a visually accurate manner versus the traditional methods that consider only two-dimensional geometric roadway elements. Using the vertical application, Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360™, engineers can look at passing and stopping site distances, as well as spot blind corners or intersections and then make design tweaks to improve road safety.

Managing costs There’s no doubt that billions of dollars spent on public infrastructure projects can be better managed if design engineering modeling is introduced into the project lifecycle. During the early stages of the design process Autodesk InfraWorks plays a critical role in removing costly manual processes by presenting more than one design option in order to receive agreement from various stakeholders. InfraWorks also eliminates the significant manual work that is often introduced later in the design process, typically in response to environmental or social requirements. Instead the impact of these potential variables is assessed early on in the preliminary design process thus mitigating expensive change orders and scope creep down the line.

The Cambray Bridge is a two-lane steel and timber bridge that straddles railroad tracks and is the oldest remaining railroad overpass in New Mexico. Image courtesy of NMDOT and CENews.

Rights of way are displayed on a 3D InfraWorks model to share with reviewers

Consider safety requirements early in project development by analyzing sight distances. Image courtesy of Autodesk.

NMDOT used InfraWorks to model its proposal for a new bridge and the surrounding terrain, creating project visualizations that were used for public outreach and during presentations to the New Mexico Historic PreservationDivision.ImagecourtesyofNMDOTandCENews.


Summary

Using Autodesk software such as InfraWorks and InfraWorks 360, civil engineers and planners can help deliver projects, small and large, by more efficiently managing larger-scale infrastructure models created from existing data sources, engineering in context from the start, and generating proposals at the appropriate level of detail. Additionally, users can communicate to a broader audience, including public and project stakeholders, in new ways with anytime, anywhere access to project scenarios. Infrastructure professionals can also improve team collaboration by sharing models centrally and more securely in the cloud.

Additional Resources

If you are ready to learn more about Autodesk solutions for transportation and infrastructure projects, take advantage of these additional resources:

- On-demand webinar: Using 3D Modeling, Visualization for Effective Stakeholder Communication on Municipal InfrastructureProjectwww.dlt.com/infraworks-360-webinar

- ProductOverview: http://www.autodesk.com/products/infraworks-family/overview

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Visit our blog for government design and engineering professionals and get regular insights, news, tips, case studies and more. www.acronymonline.org The Autodesk Government Team at DLT Solutions

888-447-2223 [email protected]/autodesk

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