Project
Jiujiang, a city of 4.7 million people in China’s northwest Jiangxi province, experienced recurring problems with its water and wastewater system. Among them included overflows, backups in the sewage network, and pollution in the nearby Yangtze River. As a result, the area was selected for a CNY 7.7 billion comprehensive smart water management platform that covered 200 square kilometers. Plans included constructing a new sewage plant, pump gates, and pipe networks. The wide scope and complex nature of the development would consist of a project team comprising more than 100 disciplines.
Solution
To design the smart water management platform, Shanghai Investigation, Design & Research Institute (SIDRI) Co., Ltd. and Yangtze Ecology and Environment Co., Ltd. incorporated BIM engineering management software across the entire project, from design to construction. The organizations replaced their 2D GIS map of the project area, new sewage plant, water network, and machinery with a 3D reality mesh produced using Bentley’s ContextCapture. The team also used a collaborative design platform based on ProjectWise to share information seamlessly and detect and resolve clashes in the design. The team uploaded the BIM model into the iModelHub cloud using iModel ProjectWise Bridge Service, which further improved data access and information sharing. Within the BIM model, the project team created a hydraulic model that can predict water volume and rainwater inflow to help identify what areas of the city were most at risk to flood events and how to prevent them.
Outcome
The project team created a digital representation of the construction area to view project-related data. The process enabled the team to build a blueprint for smart water management and improve the water system in Jiujiang, saving 80% in labor costs and 60% in design costs. Using ProjectWise to share information across the project team and Navigator to detect and resolve clashes reduced design errors by 80% and lowered design and verification by 800 resource hours, saving CNY 4 million. BIM methodologies improved the project team’s efficiency with management of all construction stages, which enhanced quality, reduced construction costs by 20%, and shaved four months off the schedule.
Software
ContextCapture was used to create a 3D reality mesh, which replaced a 2D GIS map of the project area and new sewage plant. OpenBuildings Designer, OpenRoads, OpenPlant, and ProjectWise allowed designers to fully populate the digital model with building designs, the water pipe network, the surrounding environment, and other infrastructure details. iModelHub was used to host the BIM model, which improved collaboration and facilitated information sharing across the multidiscipline team. ProjectWise also enabled the multidiscipline team to collaborate effectively and identify and resolve clashes prior to the start of construction.
Project Playbook: ContextCapture, Descartes, iModelHub, LumenRT, Navigator, OpenBuildings, OpenBuildings Designer, OpenFlows FLOOD, OpenPlant, OpenRoads, ProjectWise