Situated in the eastern part of Ezhou, Ezhou Huahu Airport is a new international airport and aviation logistics port. It is Asia’s first professional cargo airport, the largest cargo airport in China and the fourth largest in the world. The airport’s location means that, in a two-hour flight, it covers 90% of China’s economy and 80% of its population. The CNY 30.8 billion project includes a total construction area of about 900,000 square meters and requires integration of many process systems, presenting complex geological challenges amid an extremely tight schedule. With no existing civil aviation BIM standards and 33 million model components, they needed a digital platform capable of supporting large volumes of multisourced data and intelligent lifecycle operations.

They selected Bentley’s BIM applications to develop a 3D airport model, shortening model delivery by 90 days. The project includes over 50 parties, including the owner, BIM consultants, designers, construction companies, supervision companies, cost consultants, and equipment providers. To ensure that everyone had access to the right information at the right time, the team used ProjectWise to provide an open, connected data environment, streamlining multidiscipline coordination to save CNY 12 million. Using the Bentley iTwin platform, they established a digital twin, resolving 6,000 issues to reduce costs by CNY 200 million. Bentley’s solution saved over 200 days during the construction period and there was no need to modify on site, saving over CNY 300 million. This project promotes smart construction in China’s civil aviation industry.