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first published week of: 01/06/2020
Esri and Autodesk’s Software Partnership Pays Dividends for Contractors
by jeff yoders
A 3D geospatial GIS Web Scene is blended with the BIM for an AECOM infrastructure project in Australia, placing the proposed roadway directly into the real site data.
( GIS Basemap/Bim Model Courtesy of Aecom )
Earlier this year, AECOM Hunt completed construction on Walnut Grove Elementary School near Indianapolis, building on an otherwise undeveloped green site. But there was no need up front to build a fresh model of the site in design software. Working in Autodesk Civil 3D, AECOM Hunt had elevation and edge-of-curve data layered against GIS data which was supplemented with drone captures. This blended data was used to track excavation work, and the landscaping crew even used it for quantity take-offs when they had to verify grades.
Prior to GIS giant Esri and BIM software vendor Autodesk’s partnership on a data-sharing initiative, that particular workflow would have been much less smooth, requiring AECOM Hunt’s designers to slowly recreate the site’s geospatial data in their BIM software.
“Having the new data compatibility has accelerated our process,” says Russ Dalton, BIM/VDC manager at AECOM Hunt. “The workflow is the same but faster. Our process is more efficient with the elimination of manual steps transferring data, and the automation is less prone to human error.”
Dalton says before the partnership, AECOM Hunt would access Esri data inside AutoCAD maps with a link to a separate program. The new process has accelerated their workflow, and AECOM Hunt can sync LiDAR data directly into its Revit models now.
Read full story at Engineering News Record…