What do Helsinki Airport, the Big One Roller Coaster and a temporary bridge over the River Corrèze have in common?
These projects are among the 10 best structural and building projects using building information modeling (BIM) worldwide. Each has been awarded a Tekla Global BIM Award for 2022.
What are the Tekla BIM Awards 2022?
The Tekla BIM Awards is a biennial global competition that rewards the world's most impressive structural projects modeled with Tekla BIM software. The global competition is preceded by regional competitions, the winners of which take part in the global edition. This year, 132 projects from 37 countries won Tekla BIM awards.
From the local winners, a selection jury decides the overall winners, divided between different categories by project type. The jury uses the following judging criteria to determine the winners:
Use of BIM and collaboration: model life cycle, collaboration between various participants and use of IFC and open BIM
Innovative use of Tekla BIM software: Challenges solved with Tekla and innovative ways of using BIM
Constructability: Level of Development (LOD), multi-material aspect and complexity of geometry
Environmental benefits: energy savings, waste reduction and logistics
Genius factor: Imposing, unique and creative execution of the project
In addition to the project type categories, there are special categories for a student winner and a software developer winner. So, without further ado, the winners of the Tekla BIM Awards 2022 are:
What: T2 Alliance, Helsinki Airport, an extension of Terminal 2 in Finland
Who: Ramboll Finland Oy, Finavia Corporation, SRV Rakennus Oy, ALA Architects Ltd, HKP Architects Ltd, Gravicon Oy
Reason: The project owner, Finavia Corporation, recognized the value of BIM, incorporating it wherever possible to manage the scale and complexity of the project.
Watch the video by clicking here.
Effective BIM-based collaboration and integrated project delivery with hundreds of project models
Over the course of the project, more than 100 users from 8 different organizations used Trimble Connect and Tekla Model Sharing to collaborate and manage more than 400 project models.
BIM models are referenced in stakeholder meetings and weekly update meetings to make informed operational and construction decisions.
The Tekla Structures Model Sharing models were highly detailed, with cast-in-place and precast reinforcement, steel roof trusses and foundation piles all modeled.
What: King's Cross R8, a mixed-use project with two 13-storey buildings in the UK
Who: ARUP, Argent, McLaren Construction, Piercy & Company, Severfield UK and Getjar
Reason: The project's structural BIM model, created with a Tekla-Grasshopper Live Link, enabled faster design through collaboration and automation, allowing the team to make progress in delivering the project.
How BIM helped speed up the design process
The project site bordered three active shallow masonry train tunnels sensitive to ground movements, adding a challenge of project coordination with Network Rail.
The team quickly compared structural framing options in the early design stages using Tekla Structures and a Grasshopper script that generated the complete structure and structural foundations.
Another Grasshopper script automated the calculation of piles and pilecaps, while Tekla Structures was used to model the project's challenging reinforcement in 3D.
What: Ovalo Monitor Bridge, a complex reinforced concrete bridge in Peru
Who: TSC Innovation, Aceros Arequipa, INCOT
Reason: The execution of this 870-meter bridge with straight and curved sections was only possible with an impressive pile of BIM software.
A stack of design technology and project data managed by BIM software
The complex geometric configuration of the bridge was parametrically modeled with Tekla-Grasshopper, allowing for a faster modeling time and simplifying any future changes.
Tekla Model Sharing was an essential tool that allowed designers located in different areas to work within the same project models.
Trimble Connect completed the project's software stack - the common cloud-based data environment managed and stored all the project's information, so that it was easily accessible by anyone, anywhere.
What: Pierrefonds Waste Management Plant, a critical multi-sector center for Reunion Island's energy transition
Who: SEEI (Sud Etude et Equipment Industrie)
Reason: BIM models allowed for proper coordination of the construction division to deliver this critical waste management project.
Division coordination made easy with BIM
The completion of this critical project treats the waste of 60% of Reunion Island's population, produces renewable energy for more than 10,000 households and puts an end to landfill in the region.
Coordination between the piping, equipment and civil engineering divisions was successful with detailed BIM models from Tekla Structures and Tekla Model Sharing.
The models were also used to coordinate the envelope of an adjacent building being designed by another company.
What: ScaffPlan, BIM plug-ins for scaffold modeling made in Australia
Who: ScaffPlan
Reason: This developer-created tool quickly designs scaffolding within Tekla Structures to reduce design time and increase profits.
Watch the video by clicking here.
A BIM scaffolding solution that increases ROI
ScaffPlan is the world's first intelligent scaffolding software, allowing users to draw up complex scaffolding projects in minutes.
Developed by industry leaders, plug-ins are added to Tekla Structures to design a project's scaffolding solution 360 times faster than traditional methods.
ScaffPlan is designed to streamline plans, calculate engineering, manage projects remotely and control operations to an exceptional standard.
What: Tampere Deck and Arena, a multi-purpose activity center located directly above the railway tracks in Finland
Who: SRV Rakennus Oy, Ramboll Finland Oy, ARCO Architecture Company
Reason: With all parts of the project using BIM extensively, the arena was designed efficiently and with a high degree of precision.
All project disciplines used BIM software to manage project coordination
All parties involved in the major project used BIM to manage the large scope of the project, numerous design disciplines and overlapping areas of responsibility.
The use of Tekla Structures and Tekla Model Sharing throughout the site enabled the precision of the design. For example, the sewage pipes fit perfectly into the deck structures, the lighting met strict organizational requirements and every seat in the arena enjoyed an unobstructed view.
In addition, BIM was essential throughout construction. Project management can monitor real-time progress and material delivery statuses to inform contractor coordination and labor scheduling.
What: The Big One, Season 2, the replacement for nine rollercoaster tracks in the UK
Who: Taziker Industrial
Reason: Tekla Structures' extensive capabilities made it possible to redesign the curve of this roller coaster for better dynamics.
Watch the video by clicking here.
Tekla Structures' impressive tools simplify complex geometry
Three Tekla Structures tools enabled this complex feat of geometry engineering: point cloud import, layout manager and Grasshopper link.
The point cloud import was used to determine the geometry of the existing roller coaster track, which was then checked with a Robotic Total Station.
The use of Tekla Structures easily allowed specific design criteria to be met. Composite beams were not used on any piece of rolled tube and butt-welded joints were minimized to reduce cost.
The tracks manufactured had an exceptional fit with the existing structure - a testament to BIM technology and the work of the manufacturers.
What: Pipeekso Dam, a new dam designed to prevent flooding in Indonesia
Who: PT PP, Balai Besar River Basin Dam (BBWS), Bengawan Solo project
Reason: Using BIM tools to design faster and better allowed this project to finish far ahead of projections.
BIM project planning reduced errors and made the project a success
Tekla Structures' BIM models accelerated the project with faster factory drawing production, minimized rework, reduced material waste and maximized natural resources.
When protests disrupted the project site, surveys were carried out using drone photogrammetry and BIM technology, allowing for precise existing measurements.
The use of Tekla Structures, Trimble Connect and the Trimble Laser Scanner SX 104 as part of a project-wide BIM collaboration enabled this project to be completed 1.5 years ahead of schedule.
What: Corrèze Bridge, a viaduct over the Corrèze River in France
Who: IUT GC EGLETONS students
Reason: In a short space of time, a group of students modeled a temporary viaduct crucial to the construction of the MALEMORT SUR CORREZE bypass using Tekla Structures.
BIM used to quickly model a temporary bridge solution
A group of 6 students provided a design solution for a temporary bridge over the River Corrèze in just 13 days.
In this timeline, the students reviewed the bridge under construction and the concrete and steel execution plans, then used the information to model a temporary bridge with Tekla Structures.
The final design, including the detailed reinforcement cages, was presented to the EXE method engineer, project manager and project owner.
What: E6 Ranheim-Værnes, a road widening project with three tunnels and multiple structures in Norway
Who: ACCIONA Engineering, Ramboll, ACCIONA Construction, COWI, Norwegian Road Administration, Nye Veier
Reason: The project team incorporated BIM solutions wherever possible to design efficiently and maintain live design collaboration.
BIM on a large scale from initial design to final construction and beyond
The engineering team and project stakeholders used an integrated model-based design to leverage BIM on a large scale during initial design through construction and into future operations.
Tekla Model Sharing enabled the sharing of models between the project team, and Trimble Quadri enabled interdisciplinary coordination and conflict detection workflows.
Project files were regularly exported from Tekla to Trimble Connect and Trimble Quadri to ensure up-to-date data exchange.
The Tekla-Grasshopper parametric models have enabled projects to be chosen and analyzed into value-added solutions to promote project efficiency.
These winners only scratch the surface of the BIM brilliance on display at the Tekla BIM Awards 2022. What are you waiting for? There are over 130 projects to explore! Delve deeper into the Tekla Global BIM Awards 2022.
About the author
Rachel is content marketing manager at Trimble Construction. She has written for companies in finance, SaaS, manufacturing, telecommunications and healthcare for 16 years. Writing about construction is her favorite gig so far.
