For Its Use of 3D Design in Wastewater Treatment Projects to Improve Rescoping for Safety; Identify Areas of Risk, Constructability Issues, and Opportunities for Cost Savings; Enhance Operator Confidence in New Works; and More
EXTON, Pa. – Atkins Water, a leading multidisciplinary engineering firm headquartered in Surrey, United Kingdom, has won a BE Award for its use of Bentley’s AutoPLANT solution on three wastewater treatment improvement projects in North West England. The award category was “Plant Visualization.”
Commenting on the firm’s use of Bentley solutions to deliver 3D design and 2D drawings in its Milnthorpe, Stockport, and Wigan wastewater treatment projects, Paul Heath, CAD manager for Atkin’s Water, said, “The realistic 3D models provided by Bentley AutoPLANT have been invaluable in enhancing operator confidence in the proposed new works. There was a marked decrease in the number of actions on designers following design reviews. This, in turn, has a direct effect on costs due to less reworking of designs.
“In addition, the 3D models have added value to the projects in terms of operator buy-in to the proposed works and, as a result, client satisfaction. We have been able to more easily identify risk areas and, therefore, design the problems out, and it has given us greater opportunity to identify areas for cost savings and to reduce delays and associative costs on site.”
The Milnthorpe Wastewater Treatment Works formed part of the Arnside Improvements Project, which is valued at more than $19 million. The works consisted of a new inlet works, compact-activated sludge plant tanks, a selector tank with combined distribution chamber, a sludge treatment facility, and submersible pumping stations. All had to be constructed on the tight sloping site of an existing works, which was to remain fully operational throughout construction.
By allowing designers to clearly visualize the works, 3D design with Bentley AutoPLANT enabled improved rescoping for safety aspects. In addition, it made it easier to identify risk areas, constructability issues, and opportunities for cost savings from realignments and reduced on-site delays. HAZOP and access, maintenance, and lifting reviews on the Arnside project were made easier using 3D presentations to enhance operator visualization of the proposed works. Designers returned from these reviews with far fewer actions than on projects in which only 2D design had been employed.
The design of the Stockport project was enhanced by Atkins’ use of AutoPLANT in routing pipework. The software enabled the firm to prove line and level while negotiating a plethora of existing site services.
Due to the rural location of the third project, the Wigan Wastewater Treatment Works, it was essential that the planning application (or permitting) for this inlet works scheme provide the local authority with realistic views of the new works as it will fit in the existing environment. The 3D images produced in support were essential to the success of the application.
For more information on Atkins Water’s winning projects and all of the other BE Award projects, visit www.be.org/awards. For more information on the Bentley products used in this project, visit www.bentley.com/plant.
About the BE Awards of Excellence
The BE Awards of Excellence, which are judged by an independent panel of industry experts and presented at an evening ceremony during the annual BE Conference (www.be.org/), honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world’s infrastructure. These projects set benchmarks and showcase the imagination and technical mastery of the organizations that created them.
About Atkins Water
Atkins Water supports the water, wastewater and water-related environmental sectors with consistently exceptional services. Its key expertise includes managing assets, operating services, delivering schemes, programming investment, benchmarking services, balancing risks, and developing effective technologies. A client-focused structure enables Atkins Water to augment and support cost-effective, quality-assured solutions and project delivery.
Atkins combines leading-edge engineering with in-depth experience to deliver total solutions that satisfy the needs of its clients. It supports its clients with a multidisciplinary team of over 650 across a network of offices in the United Kingdom and overseas. For more information, visit www.atkinsglobal.com/markets/water.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world’s infrastructure. The company’s comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world’s No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a recent Daratech research study.
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