Skip to main content

Modelling software aids highway widening

The Skanska Balfour Beatty Joint Venture has been selected by Autodesk to receive an Autodesk BIM Experience Award.
February 22, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The M25 motorway around London is being widened with the help of software from Autodesk
The 2296 Skanska 1146 Balfour Beatty Joint Venture has been selected by  685 Autodesk to receive an Autodesk BIM Experience Award.

The companies are being honoured for using a Building Information Modelling (BIM) process to meet the demands of widening 64km of the
188km M25 motorway that
circles London, in preparation
for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The award from Autodesk, a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, recognises 3005 Atkins and the joint venture for “the
exemplary use of a BIM process” to inform decision-making for improved safety; foster better understanding of the design among project engineers; coordinate design disciplines and resolve interdisciplinary conflicts prior to construction, reducing potentially costly errors, and virtually plan production to meet a fast-track schedule while maintaining ongoing operations on a busy highway.

Since 2009, the design-build team has used Autodesk BIM solutions to collaborate on the project, helping to resolve construction issues virtually before they happen in the field. Autodesk software solutions used to support this BIM process include AutoCAD, Autodesk Navisworks Manage, Autodesk Navisworks Freedom, and AutoCAD Civil 3D software.

To help meet the aggressive design-build schedule, the project team relies on a coordinated, accurate design intent model. The Autodesk Navisworks integrated design model helps the team visualise the entire project, including all above and below ground components, as well as nonphysical aspects of the design, such as safety barrier working zones.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Dutch road widening benefits from 3D software
    February 24, 2012
    Modern software is stretching traditional design boundaries on a motorway widening in the Netherlands, reports Adrian Greeman There was a time when civil engineering and aesthetics did not mix too well, especially on roads. The artistic ideas of an architect did not blend with the stringent requirements of structure. But modern three-dimensional modelling software is helping this change. Design notions that might have been overly complicated in the past are now attainable with hi-tech analysis tools.
  • Italy’s renaissance bridge
    July 21, 2020
    Italian consulting company Italferr created a digital twin for designing the new Genoa bridge and won accolades at Bentley Systems: Bentley Year in Infrastructure Awards
  • New functionality for infrasfructure design software
    March 20, 2012
    Chris Bradshaw, Autodesk's vice-president for the Infrastructure Solutions division spoke to World Highways. The launch of the fourth version of its Civil 3D design software early this year will see software maker Autodesk getting serious about its road and general civil engineering package. Bigger projects can be handled in the 2008 version, and a range of new functionality is being added. "Though not everything we would like yet," said Chris Bradshaw, Autodesk's vicepresident for the Infrastructure S
  • Widening works: road user’s nightmare or operator’s challenge?
    March 14, 2017
    Early - and continuous planning - is essential for successful road widening projects. By Nina Sacagiu, project manager, and Laurent Charles-Nicolas, project director, at Egis. Keeping goods and people moving safely is the primary objective of any transport authority across the world. Delivering this objective on motorways and making the most out of network capacity requires all the resources, skills and ingenuity of those in charge of managing the infrastructure. When the network can no longer cope wit