project profile: the £20 billion project is expected to take around 10 years to complete, with an estimated 5,000 people working on site. once completed, Hinkley Point C,located in Somerset, will be responsible for providing safe, reliable, low-carbon electricity to around six million homes. It is the first UK nuclear power plant to be completed in a generation, making it a truly major civil engineering and construction project.
client Profile: bYLOR, the main civil contractor for the project, is a joint venture between Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O'Rourke, two of the most dynamic groups of engineering and construction professionals.
the business challenge: How to streamline the design and details of a huge, complex project spanning more than a decade.
solution:
Viewpoint Field View - This product is available for sale in the UK only.
select tools to perform on the entire project
unsurprisingly, digital technology has played a big role in the construction of the Hinkley Point C project and BYLOR, which involves the construction of more than 60 major structures, including the building that will house two identical reactors. As Alina Turda, Quality Systems Engineer, said, "We've been working on a project like this for years: on a project of this magnitude, you can't do anything on paper.
at the start of the project, BYLOR was tasked with deciding how to approach the design and detailing process and which software suite to use, decisions that would last for a very long time during the construction of the nuclear power plant.
Andrew Jackson**, Technical Director and Head of Nuclear Quality at BYLOR**, says: "We decided to use Tekla Structures to carry out the project: "At the start of the project, we looked at the best way to design and detail the incredibly diverse and complex structures that needed to be built. After looking at a number of options, we decided to carry out the project using Tekla Structures, which means that the concrete and reinforcement for all structures on site were designed in Tekla. this includes documenting all of our work from the design office to the site where we use the design to build the structures."
"One amazing thing about Hinkley Point C is the scale. from pouring one cubic meter of concrete on the corner of a building to the two largest onshore continuous concrete pours in the UK, we use the same detailing approach."
the two biggest benefits of using a digital design and detailing process
For BYLOR, Andrew explains that adopting a digital design and detailing process had two main benefits
"The first is that we can clearly visualize and see whatwe need to do, which helps the construction team better understand the complex requirements of the designers by turning the 3D model and looking inside. similarly, the construction team can understand our requirements and suggest alternatives by identifying certain details that might be difficult to construct on site."
"The second is coordination. Sometimes we as civil builders need to remind ourselves that we are just one component of a huge project - a nuclear power plant. it's very important to combine the many complex aspects of the design and make sure they work together, and the only way to do that is to look at the 3D model. if other nuclear power plants have had problems, it's likely because parts didn't fit together properly. it was not uncommon for one designer to detail the reinforcements in one set of 2D drawings and another to detail the embeds in a second set of drawings. The first time these 2D drawings are introduced to each other is when the team on site has to fit them together.
"With digital models, whether it's a civil design created in Tekla or another design created on another platform, we can use them together to make sure everything is immediately available on site."
The BIM model for Hinkley Point C
See how everything fits together in Trimble Connect
Given the fact that Hinkley Point C's construction period would span 10 years, flexibility and adaptability were key.
"That decision has proven to us that we can be flexible and adapt as the industry around us changes and develops. We can incorporate all the different elements of the design in IFC format and use that design in the field, usually using Trimble Connect to see how everything fits together. It also gives us greater control. With IFC, it's clear where information is issued, frozen and controlled, and who created it, so we can demonstrate the controls required for nuclear quality."
-Andrew Jackson, Technical Director and Head of Nuclear Quality, BYLOR
In addition to Tekla, the constructible modeling software, BYLOR has adopted Trimble Connect, a cloud-based collaboration platform that enables the level of communication and coordination required for a nuclear project of this scale.
Tim Davies, Head of Central Digital Engineering at BYLOR, said: "The main use of Trimble Connect is to bring information that is traditionally only available on laptops and desktops, such as 3D models and PDF documents, out of the office and onto the construction site. We can then provide workers with up-to-date and accurate information at the right time."
Trimble Connect has been instrumental in helping us understand some very complex designs that are difficult to convey with traditional 2D drawings. Giving our field teams the ability to view the 3D model on site while they are performing their work ensures that we are building the right quality of construction the first time. not only can you send data and information to the field, but you can also use Trimble Connect to bring data and information back from the field. for example, we use the status sharing tool to track the progress of an installation."
Listen to the full story of Hinkley Point C construction
Tekla software and Trimble Connect are just part of the Trimble product portfolio that BYLOR has used and will continue to use in the construction of Hinkley Point C, one of Europe's largest and most complex projects.
in summary, throughout the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant project - from the design process with Tekla, the construction process with Trimble Connect, and progress reports, records, and data tracking with Viewpoint Field View- various products from the Trimble product suite were used.
The full Hinkley Point C case study (19 minutes)is available online.
