As part of Rail Baltica’s initiative to link five countries in Northeast Europe, Ineco was formed to provide BIM design and construction supervision for the Latvian North Section high-speed railway. The project required coordinating teams from different countries that had no prior knowledge of BIM methodologies. To overcome this challenge, meet Rail Baltica’s information management and BIM requirements, and manage thousands of deliverables, they needed to configure comprehensive modeling applications within a connected data environment to work with all stakeholders.

Ineco selected ProjectWise as the collaborative management platform. Integrating MicroStation, OpenRail, OpenRoads, and OpenBuildings for 3D modeling, they identified design clashes early. By streamlining and integrating people, processes, and systems, they calculated an estimated return on investment of 8.17%. Using iTwin applications to develop digital twins is helping them monitor and visualize project progress, estimate lifecycle cost calculations, and design more resilient infrastructure with better economic performance. 

Project Playbook: gINT, iTwin Design Insights, iTwin Design Review, LumenRT, MicroStation, OpenBridge Designer, OpenBuildings, OpenRail Designer, OpenRoads Designer, ProjectWise

European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is a European Union-wide system of signaling for railways that will improve safety, increase efficiency, and enhance cross-border interoperability of rail transport in Europe. The Swedish Transportation Administration had to introduce the railway signaling system on the country’s main railways. In 2019, Saitec was awarded the contract to prepare tender documents for constructing ERTMS in the Osby area. The 47-kilometer rail project involves designing 43 new buildings along the track and any necessary earthworks, requiring BIM technology to meet the requirements and standards.

Saitec & Trafikverket chose Bentley applications to produce models for both existing and newly designed elements, which were incorporated into a larger model and shared with stakeholders. OpenRail Designer helped create the alignments and profiles of existing tracks, MicroStation modeled the surrounding buildings, and OpenRoads Designer helped develop a scalable terrain model. The team created and managed about 2,500 drawings, modeled over 5,200 existing and 2,000 new objects, and filled over 82,000 attributes. 

Project Playbook: MicroStation, OpenRail Designer, OpenRoads Designer, ProjectWise, Promis.e

As part of the new high-speed railway connecting England and Scotland, High Speed 2’s Phase 2a links the West Midlands to the North via Crewe. ERD+, consisting of Arup, WSP, and EDP (a joint venture between Atkins, Jacobs, and Sener), was tasked with delivering this phase. With all design based on 3D models and team members isolated through COVID-19 lockdowns, ERD+ needed to ensure all data  silos were removed so that the many organizations working on this complex project had access to the right information at the right time.

After considering their options, they chose the Bentley iTwin platform as the central project information hub and their go-to place for all project functions. The platform’s ability to handle large datasets and its intuitive user interface ensured streamlined project team communication and collaboration, including enabling the management of weekly model updates. To date, they have met all major project milestones and plan to use the platform on future work. 

Project Playbook: iTwin Design Review, MicroStation, OpenBuildings Designer, OpenRail Designer, OpenRoads Designer, ProjectWise

The Hurontario light rail transit (LRT) project will provide an environmentally friendly and reliable method of transportation between Mississauga and Brampton. The 18-kilometer-long, CAD$ 13 million project includes constructing a new operations, maintenance, and servicing facility; 14 traction power substations; 16 intermediate LRT stops; and three large terminus stations, of which one is underground. Arcadis was tasked with conducting the track alignment, structure, drainage design, in addition to route-wide ducting design. They needed close cross-discipline collaboration on this complex project, with a team located across six different time zones.

After previous methods proved difficult and time-consuming, Arcadis converted all 3D modeling to OpenRail Designer, enabling a semi-automated workflow that significantly reduced modeling time and improved visualization. With all models housed in ProjectWise, data management and communication includingduring throughoutthe COVID-19 pandemic was enhanced. OpenRail Designer quadrupled the speed at which they could adjust 3D design models, while dynamic visualization capabilities helped team members identify and resolve clashes. 

Project Playbook: MicroStation, OpenBuildings Designer, OpenFlows CivilStorm, OpenRail Designer, OpenRoads Designer, ProjectWise

Located in the Scottish Highlands, Inverness Airport Station will be an unstaffed, two-platform station with step-free access adjacent to the airport. It will also house 64 vehicle parking spaces with 10 electric charging facilities and four disability spaces, plus cycle and bus parking. AECOM was tasked with designing and constructing the station and needed to ensure that the project stayed on schedule and within the project budget. With repair and maintenance costs accounting for a major part of this investment, they sought a solution to help achieve the client’s goals and ambitions.

AECOM used Bentley applications to create a digital library to undertake option studies. The approach, which enabled the creation, storage, and reuse of client-approved design components, dramatically reduced the time needed to design a building. These parametric project components can also be reused on future projects, leading to additional significant savings, and enabling AECOM to better quantify time associated with 3D modeling activities. 

Project Playbook: MicroStation, OpenBridge Designer, OpenBuildings Designer, OpenRail Designer, OpenRoads Designer, ProjectWise, ProSteel, ProStructures, STAAD

The estimated GBP 2.2 billion extension of the Jerusalem Light Rail network will add 17.2 kilometers of track to its existing Red Line between the Neve Yaakov neighborhood in the northeast, and Ein Karem in the southwest of Jerusalem. The project also includes the design and construction of a new 19.6-kilometer Green Line, with interfaces between the two, to meet increasing ridership demand across the city. Engaged to deliver design solutions on the sizeable and complex project, BWB Consulting required effective collaboration with contractors to ensure data remained up-to-date and reliable.

Already familiar with Bentley applications, they created customized files, level libraries, and seed files before work commenced, ensuring smooth project start-up and high-quality deliverables throughout. As the project mandated the design be submitted in DWG, MicroStation easily accommodated conversion of DGN files without loss of information. OpenRail Designer was used to develop custom templates and automatically resolve transitions between section changes, reducing design turnaround from months to weeks. 

Project Playbook: MicroStation, OpenRail Designer

SUDOP PRAHA was tasked with modernizing Pardubice’s railway junction in the Czech Republic’s East Bohemia. The estimated CZK 2.6 billion project includes increasing the line speed through the junction to up to 160 kilometers per hour, constructing a new intermediate platform and footbridge, modernizing existing platforms, and improving freight train conditions. Due to the surrounding environments’ complexity, the project required BIM workflows and the use of 3D modeling to ensure accurate design and construction information sharing.

The design team used MicroStation to create and regularly update iModels for the contractor so that they had a clear understanding of all activities occurring on site. They also used ProjectWise to create a connected data environment so that the data could be easily accessed by the contractor, investor, and surveying company. The application streamlined the team’s work, including throughout the design review phase, and eliminated any ambiguity of transmitted documents. The project is on track to be completed in 2023. 

Project Playbook: MicroStation, ProjectWise 365

The Catania Centrale station is located along a 7.4-kilometer line that connects Sicily to nearby densely populated urban areas. Italferr was tasked with moving the current station underground and doubling a new section of track to guarantee speeds of 120-200 kilometers per hour and 100-120 kilometers per hour for passenger and freight respectively, while keeping the impact on the city and its residents to a minimum. They had to ensure that their planning and communication workflows were efficient.

Italferr chose ProjectWise to facilitate the exchange of data between all stakeholders. Bentley applications were used to create models of the track, surrounding terrain, civil and water infrastructure above and below ground, plus other related infrastructure systems. Using the Bentley iTwin platform, the team enabled the efficient flow of information, empowering more accurate construction simulation, faster analysis, and enhanced decision-making. 

Project Playbook: ContextCapture, gINT, iTwin Design Insights, iTwin Design Review, LumenRT, MicroStation, OpenBuildings Designer, OpenCities Map, OpenRail Designer, OpenRoads Designer, ProjectWise 365

To upgrade a section of the Jiuquan-Ejina Railway, China Railway First Survey and Design Institute designed the reconstruction and creation of various new assets on the 243.7-kilometer rail section. They realized that traditional methods of laying out cables would lead to disorderly cable scheduling, low engineering quality, and high risk of error. For a project of this size and complexity, amid a short timeline, the team wanted to pilot railway digital engineering technology.

Having found Autodesk solutions insufficient for the enablement of accurate design, standardized construction, and intelligent operations and maintenance, the team chose Bentley software and have since achieved significant breakthrough results. Using MicroStation to create BIM models for communication, signal, electric power, and electrification engineering helped the team to improve cable layout accuracy by 96%. Using the Bentley iTwin platform, they uniformly organized and managed data from all parties throughout the project lifecycle, increasing work efficiency by over three times and reducing material consumption by 70%. 

Project Playbook: iTwin.js, MicroStation

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is redeveloping University Station near the University of Birmingham to reduce overcrowding and congestion at the 43-year-old station. They wanted to widen the platforms and construct new buildings and facilities. However, the complex upgrade required a single document management platform that could accommodate all the information while making it accessible to multiple participants and stakeholders. They sought a connected data environment to complete the project ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2022, where the university will host events.

Realizing that their existing SharePoint-based workflows were going to be insufficient, TfWM chose ProjectWise to host and manage their documents for the project. Its connected data environment allowed the team to collaborate effectively and store data in a way that gave them the confidence that information was always accurate, up to date, and available to all. The project is on track to be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games, which will bring thousands of people to the area and significantly benefit the local economy. 

Project Playbook: ProjectWise