The SNCF RĂ©seau team analyzes future earthworks on the EOLE site.
Customer profile: SNCF RĂ©seau designs, builds and operates a vast rail network in France, including the high-speed rail network. With 28,000 kilometers of lines in operation, SNCF runs 15,000 trains, transports 250,000 tons of goods and 5 million passengers a day. In 2022, SNCF carried out over 1,750 worksites on all rail systems: power distribution, signalling, track work and civil engineering.
Background: Over the past few decades, SNCF has had to face the "double challenge" of increasing traffic demand and deteriorating infrastructure condition. In response, the railroad administration has undertaken a vast upgrading program to modernize the network. In 2020, SNCF continued its long-standing relationship with Trimble, choosing the integrated Trimble Quadri and Trimble Connect solution to serve as the core system within its common enterprise data environment. Thanks to this renewed partnership, SNCF Reseau has set up its own BIM Fab team responsible for deploying new and emerging BIM technologies.
The challenge: To use the East-West Express Link (EOLE) project as a proof of concept to show how augmented reality can reduce construction costs by bridging the gap between design and construction operations.
Solutions :
Benefits :
6 million euros saved by reducing rework thanks to the use of BIM and augmented reality.
Linking GIS (Geographic Information System) and BIM data through an integrated common data environment platform
France's railroad authority, SNCF RĂ©seau, operates a 35,000-kilometer rail network across France and neighboring countries. Some 14,000 trains run every day, with a high concentration of activity around Paris, carrying both passengers and freight on high-speed and electrified lines. The public infrastructure manager is solely responsible for maintenance, modernization projects and traffic management.
Over the past few decades, SNCF has faced the "double challenge" of increasing traffic demand and deteriorating infrastructure. In response, the railroads have embarked on a vast network modernization program. The objectives of SNCF's construction projects are to improve the quality and scope of the transport services offered.
To set the framework for hundreds of pending modernization projects, SNCF partnered with Trimble Consulting to create a centralized Common Data Environment (CDE) to share information and streamline data flows. The Trimble Consulting team implemented an integrated solution using both Trimble Quadri and Trimble Connect to federate all corporate information and building information modeling (BIM) data into a consolidated, integrated system.
"SNCF has chosen Trimble solutions as the cornerstone of its strategy to improve the efficiency of its infrastructure projects. The ability of Quadri and Trimble Connect technologies to enable project owners, planners, designers, engineers and contractors to securely share their discipline-specific models on a single platform, facilitates close and simultaneous teamwork between all project stakeholders. All using their existing tools", explains Nassim Saoud, Director EMEA, Trimble Consulting.
Linking design data to construction operations
After realizing the benefits of a centralized project data system, the SNCF RĂ©seau team was eager to find another BIM solution, this time focused on improving quality and productivity during the construction and operation phases of the works.
Current and future rail projects in France are on a massive scale and are extremely complex. Between the numerous changes and the involvement of multiple stakeholders, any lack of communication or coordination on this high-stakes project quickly contributes to its failure. If changes to the project design are not communicated to the construction team on site, costly rework is the order of the day.
As the main BIM model is continually modified throughout the project, it is difficult to keep the field team abreast of these changes. A project manager on the East West Express Link or EOLE project expressed the need to track all design changes on the BIM model to better control design variations and communicate these changes quickly and in detail to the field construction team.
The EOLE project will extend the existing RER E line westwards, from Paris Saint-Lazare to Mantes-la-Jolie, thereby expanding rail services in the western part of the ĂŽle-de-France region. Offering an alternative route at peak times will ease congestion on the RER A line, which handles up to 1.2 million passengers a day. This mega-infrastructure project, valued at over four billion euros, is scheduled for completion by 2024.
Using augmented reality to enrich linear infrastructure projects with digital data Â
To bridge the gap between design changes in the office and construction operations in the field, the Trimble Consulting team worked with SNCF RĂ©seau to implement a strategic solution using Trimble's SiteVision technology.
SiteVision is an augmented reality (AR) system that allows users to visualize a project's BIM design model in a real environment with superior accuracy. Using a SiteVision device and a smartphone, the project team was able to visualize in real time future construction features, such as railroad tracks and station platforms or earthwork slopes, superimposed on the project site.
Trimble Consulting helped the EOLE team prepare its BIM models for integration into the SiteVision application. Upstream data preparation involved (1) setting up a calibration file to facilitate automatic satellite alignment, (2) establishing stations or "kilometer points" so that users could easily determine a vertical position, and (3) adjusting the size and breakdown of the project model so that it could be seamlessly loaded and read.
SNCF RĂ©seau has set up a "BIM Fab" team to manage these new and emerging AR technologies, including Trimble platforms such as SiteVision and Connect AR. The aim of the BIM Fab team is to create a network of individuals who champion these tools within their companies and continue to test and deploy them in ongoing construction projects.
Seamless deployment of augmented reality in the field
After preparing the BIM model for integration with SiteVision, Trimble Consulting and the BIM Fab team deployed the technology on the EOLE project site. The first attempt to use the SiteVision application in the field was a success, thanks to the calculated planning and coordination of both teams.
The BIM Fab team and Trimble Consulting demonstrated to the construction operations team the benefits of integrating SiteVision into their daily operations, such as:
Leverage real-time data: Large-scale projects undergo thousands of design changes from start to finish. SiteVision retrieves design model data in real time, enabling the operational team to build on the latest, best-performing version.
Make informed decisions: With real-time reports between the field and the office, and vice versa, project stakeholders can make more informed decisions, based on accurate information.
Visualization of future work: Site managers can better plan future work, allocating the necessary materials and labor based on real-time visualizations of the project.
Minimize rework: Building from the live design model minimizes the need for rework, which can increase the project budget and duration.
Assess constructability: Teams can use detailed augmented reality and precise measurement projections to assess the constructability of the design.
The SNCF RĂ©seau team uses the power of augmented reality to check how design problems could have a negative impact on future construction.
SiteVision technology and the centralized CDE (Common Data Environment) will be used during the construction phase and throughout the project lifecycle, from initial planning to final operation.
"Creating digital models and continuously enriching them with an open and secure CDE will also enable us to operate and maintain our infrastructure at the highest level throughout its lifecycle," explains Pierre-Etienne Gautier, director of SNCF RĂ©seau's BIM and Digital Continuity program.
Trimble Consulting continues to provide the French railways with strategic advice and technology implementation as part of the parties' three-year contract.
