The 4th Horizon 2020 EGNSS Call opened on October 16, with four topics that leverage EGNSS innovation to energise economic growth, foster digitisation and support environmental sustainability, particularly in Europe’s cities. So, let’s take a look at the many R&D funding opportunities available to the GNSS community within this call.
The 4th EGNSS-related call aims to foster the emergence of new innovative downstream applications based on Galileo and/or EGNOS and support the EU GNSS industry, SMEs, universities, research organisations and public bodies.
The specific challenge of the first topic of the call is to address the EGNSS applications fostering green, safe and smart mobility, with the objective of developing innovative EGNSS-based applications that lead to low-emission, safer, more cost-effective and higher performance mobility and transport solutions, responding to the growing mobility needs of people and goods.
The second topic of the call addresses EGNSS applications fostering digitisation, and its main challenge is to develop EGNSS applications contributing to digitisation of products and services that will address major societal challenges in focus areas such as health, citizen safety, mobility, smart cities, sustainable resources monitoring and management and regional growth.
The third topic, on EGNSS applications fostering societal resilience and protecting the environment, aims to develop innovative EGNSS applications to support societal resilience, safeguard the wellbeing of EU citizens, improve emergency and disaster management as a response to climate-related natural and man-made disasters, and promote green growth.
Finally, the last topic of Awareness raising and capacity building, aims to build a mechanism to leverage EGNSS excellence, to provide opportunities to create networks of industrial relationships in Europe and globally, and facilitate EGNSS investments.
For more information on all of these calls, click here.
Ahead of the call, the GSA together with the European Commission and COSMOS2020, the network of National Contact Points for Space, co-organised a Horizon 2020 International Space Information Day and Brokerage Event at the GSA’s Prague headquarters on 11-12 October 2018.
The event was organised to inform participants about space opportunities in Horizon 2020 and beyond and to provide first-hand information on the latest H2020 Space Calls, with a special focus on the 4th H2020 EGNSS Call, including a detailed description of all topics, submission and financial rules as well as the evaluation process.
Horizon 2020 International Space Information Day and Brokerage Event at the GSA’s Prague headquarters
Over the two day event, more than 130 participants from 28 countries were updated on the status of Galileo and Copernicus and on the synergies arising from these two flagship programmes. In addition, through the brokerage sessions the participants had the opportunity to network and meet potential partners.
To view presentations from the Horizon 2020 Info Day, click here.
Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).
The 4th Horizon 2020 EGNSS Call opened on October 16, with four topics that leverage EGNSS innovation to energise economic growth, foster digitisation and support environmental sustainability, particularly in Europe’s cities. So, let’s take a look at the many R&D funding opportunities available to the GNSS community within this call.
The 4th EGNSS-related call aims to foster the emergence of new innovative downstream applications based on Galileo and/or EGNOS and support the EU GNSS industry, SMEs, universities, research organisations and public bodies.
The specific challenge of the first topic of the call is to address the EGNSS applications fostering green, safe and smart mobility, with the objective of developing innovative EGNSS-based applications that lead to low-emission, safer, more cost-effective and higher performance mobility and transport solutions, responding to the growing mobility needs of people and goods.
The second topic of the call addresses EGNSS applications fostering digitisation, and its main challenge is to develop EGNSS applications contributing to digitisation of products and services that will address major societal challenges in focus areas such as health, citizen safety, mobility, smart cities, sustainable resources monitoring and management and regional growth.
The third topic, on EGNSS applications fostering societal resilience and protecting the environment, aims to develop innovative EGNSS applications to support societal resilience, safeguard the wellbeing of EU citizens, improve emergency and disaster management as a response to climate-related natural and man-made disasters, and promote green growth.
Finally, the last topic of Awareness raising and capacity building, aims to build a mechanism to leverage EGNSS excellence, to provide opportunities to create networks of industrial relationships in Europe and globally, and facilitate EGNSS investments.
For more information on all of these calls, click here.
Ahead of the call, the GSA together with the European Commission and COSMOS2020, the network of National Contact Points for Space, co-organised a Horizon 2020 International Space Information Day and Brokerage Event at the GSA’s Prague headquarters on 11-12 October 2018.
The event was organised to inform participants about space opportunities in Horizon 2020 and beyond and to provide first-hand information on the latest H2020 Space Calls, with a special focus on the 4th H2020 EGNSS Call, including a detailed description of all topics, submission and financial rules as well as the evaluation process.
Horizon 2020 International Space Information Day and Brokerage Event at the GSA’s Prague headquarters
Over the two day event, more than 130 participants from 28 countries were updated on the status of Galileo and Copernicus and on the synergies arising from these two flagship programmes. In addition, through the brokerage sessions the participants had the opportunity to network and meet potential partners.
Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).
The 4th Horizon 2020 EGNSS Call opened on October 16, with four topics that leverage EGNSS innovation to energise economic growth, foster digitisation and support environmental sustainability, particularly in Europe’s cities. So, let’s take a look at the many R&D funding opportunities available to the GNSS community within this call.
The 4th EGNSS-related call aims to foster the emergence of new innovative downstream applications based on Galileo and/or EGNOS and support the EU GNSS industry, SMEs, universities, research organisations and public bodies.
The specific challenge of the first topic of the call is to address the EGNSS applications fostering green, safe and smart mobility, with the objective of developing innovative EGNSS-based applications that lead to low-emission, safer, more cost-effective and higher performance mobility and transport solutions, responding to the growing mobility needs of people and goods.
The second topic of the call addresses EGNSS applications fostering digitisation, and its main challenge is to develop EGNSS applications contributing to digitisation of products and services that will address major societal challenges in focus areas such as health, citizen safety, mobility, smart cities, sustainable resources monitoring and management and regional growth.
The third topic, on EGNSS applications fostering societal resilience and protecting the environment, aims to develop innovative EGNSS applications to support societal resilience, safeguard the wellbeing of EU citizens, improve emergency and disaster management as a response to climate-related natural and man-made disasters, and promote green growth.
Finally, the last topic of Awareness raising and capacity building, aims to build a mechanism to leverage EGNSS excellence, to provide opportunities to create networks of industrial relationships in Europe and globally, and facilitate EGNSS investments.
For more information on all of these calls, click here.
Ahead of the call, the GSA together with the European Commission and COSMOS2020, the network of National Contact Points for Space, co-organised a Horizon 2020 International Space Information Day and Brokerage Event at the GSA’s Prague headquarters on 11-12 October 2018.
The event was organised to inform participants about space opportunities in Horizon 2020 and beyond and to provide first-hand information on the latest H2020 Space Calls, with a special focus on the 4th H2020 EGNSS Call, including a detailed description of all topics, submission and financial rules as well as the evaluation process.
Horizon 2020 International Space Information Day and Brokerage Event at the GSA’s Prague headquarters
Over the two day event, more than 130 participants from 28 countries were updated on the status of Galileo and Copernicus and on the synergies arising from these two flagship programmes. In addition, through the brokerage sessions the participants had the opportunity to network and meet potential partners.
To view presentations from the Horizon 2020 Info Day, click here.
Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).
Byla publikována aktuální verze programu Setkání uživatelů produktů a služeb společností GEPRO & ATLAS 2018.… >>
Byla publikována aktuální verze programu Setkání uživatelů produktů a služeb společností GEPRO & ATLAS 2018.… >>
In the framework of GNSS cooperation between the European Union and Japan, a test was recently conducted of a GNSS-based global Emergency Warning Service using Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), which delivered impressive results.
The European Union is looking into the potential for deploying a new, global, emergency warning service (EWS) based on the EU Space Programme Galileo, as part of the EU Horizon 2020-funded GRALLE project (Galileo-based Reliable Automatic and Low Latent Emergency warning service).
As the service should be based on a common alert protocol, one of the elements of the project is the development of a common alert messaging standard with QZSS, Japan’s satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS). This was the reason behind the recent test of the system with QZSS in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.
During the test, an alert message was prepared warning of a fire in the Melbourne suburb and uploaded in the ground segment of the QZSS system. The message was then uplinked to the QZSS satellites and broadcast to smartphones in the alert zone.
A prototype receiver using a smartphone in the alert zone received messages with instructions to follow based on where in the zone they were located. Some users were advised to remain inside and wait for emergency services to arrive, while others were instructed to leave the area and proceed to a pre-determined meeting point.
Smartphone users received messages with instructions to follow based on where in the alert zone they were located
The test was performed with only the L1S signal from QZSS, meaning that no other communication infrastructure (e.g. mobile towers) was used. The local Australian civil protection authorities who took part in the test were very impressed with the results.
European Commission Project Officer Frédéric Domps highlighted the many benefits of the project. “A GNSS-based Emergency Warning System will bring significant advantages for countries that do not currently have such a system, and even for countries that already have a land-based system,” he said, adding that a Galileo-based Emergency Warning Service would be global in its scope, resilient to ground damage and deployable in response to all types of hazards, from earthquakes to forest fires and terrorist attacks.
“The next steps should involve the conducting of further testing and refinement of the service definition,” Domps said.
It is planned that the concept will be refined in 2019 with the objective of reaching a decision for implementation with the relevant EU organisations. Service deployment should then proceed with the objective of having a fully operational service in the 2023 timeframe.
Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).
První dva dny v říjnu se konalo tradiční uživatelské setkání zákazníků společnosti T-Mapy. Na rozdíl od velkých setkání, typických například pro konference Esri, se jednalo o spíše menší akci, podle organizátorů okolo 135 účastníků z 62 organizací z Česka a Slovenska. Tato velikost však nebyla na škodu a ještě více podtrhovala “rodinnost” jak akce, tak […]
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Open-source JavaScript library for creating immersive connections to
infrastructure digital twins
LONDON, U.K. – The Year in Infrastructure 2018 Conference – 17 October 2018 – Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure, today announced the initial release of its iModel.js library, an open-source initiative to improve the accessibility, for both visualization and analytical visibility, of infrastructure digital twins. iModel.js can be used by developers and IT professionals to quickly and easily create immersive applications that connect their infrastructure digital twins with the rest of their digital world. iModel.js is the cornerstone of Bentley’s just-announced iTwin™ Services that combine iModelHub, reality modeling, and web-enabling software technologies within a Connected Data Environment (CDE) for infrastructure engineering.
Bentley’s iModels have become a de facto standard for visibility into digital engineering models. iModelHub manages an iModel as a distributed database with an intrinsic ledger of changes—enabling alignment, accountability, and accessibility of its digital components—to form the backbone of an infrastructure digital twin.
The iModel.js library is a comprehensive collection of JavaScript packages that build on the most open, popular, and flexible standards for modern cloud and web development. It is written in TypeScript, and leverages open technologies including SQLite, Node.js, NPM, WebGL, Electron, Docker, Kubernetes, and of course HTML5 and CSS. The same codebase can produce cloud services and web, mobile, and desktop applications. The source code is hosted on GitHub and is distributed under the MIT license.
With iModel.js, it is simple to create a web-based experience that shows interactive “nD” views (1D, 2D, 3D, 4D, etc.) of iModels that are assembled and synchronized from BIM files and other digital engineering models, and from data created directly with iModel.js. Those same views can also include digital (reality) context, real-time sensor data, and other data from enterprise sources and analytics. Since the iModel is synchronized by iModelHub, it always reflects the most recent updates from all project participants, who are thus able to visualize and analyze changes between points in time or between versions. Importantly, only users and applications authorized by the iModel owner, through iModelHub, are granted access through iModel.js.
Johan Palm, program manager – Digital Project Delivery at Hatch, said, “iModel.js gives Hatch the ability to implement a stakeholder engagement technology that extends the iModelHub visionary technology. We can expose complex project information to a level that is accessible, consumable, and extendable via the cloud and in context to the 3D model. Most importantly we can do so in a manner that embraces change as the project progresses. iModel.js aligns with Hatch’s internal development strategies as it is built on modern, highly portable web technology. Bentley is a key software technology partner on Hatch projects globally where our main objective is to provide a positive impact to our client’s assets and operations.”
Cai Chengguo, chair and general manager, Shenzhen Expressway Consulting Group, said, “The digital twin powered by iModelHub is efficiently improving project management, substantially reducing the waste of resources caused by site problems and will achieve digital handover after completion of the project for visual operations and maintenance.”
Keith Bentley, Bentley Systems’ founder and CTO, said, “We firmly believe that iModel.js, and of course the foundation upon which it is built, is the most open, productive, intuitive, and powerful development environment for capital projects and infrastructure assets, ever. We’re excited to work with user organizations, strategic partners, and third-party developers to build an open ecosystem around iModels to tap the vast potential of infrastructure digital twins. With iModel.js, the well-refined techniques of mainstream cloud and web development can leverage the physical and virtual reality in digital twins with near-zero impedance. By open-sourcing the libraries we use to create our iTwin™ cloud services, we expect to foster a substantial and vibrant ecosystem of innovation.”
More about iModel.js: iModeljs.org
More about iModels and iModelHub: iModelHub.com
About Bentley Systems
Bentley Systems is the leading global provider of software solutions to engineers, architects, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators for the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure. Bentley’s MicroStation-based engineering and BIM applications, and its digital twin cloud services, advance the project delivery (ProjectWise) and the asset performance (AssetWise) of transportation and other public works, utilities, industrial and resources plants, and commercial and institutional facilities.
Bentley Systems employs more than 3,500 colleagues, generates annual revenues of $700 million in 170 countries, and has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions since 2012. From inception in 1984, the company has remained majority-owned by its five founding Bentley brothers. Bentley shares transact by invitation on the NASDAQ Private Market; strategic partner Siemens AG has accumulated a non-voting minority stake.
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Bentley, the Bentley logo, AssetWise, Connected Data Environment, iTwin, MicroStation, and ProjectWise are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is currently conducting a survey among operators and manufacturers of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and aviation authorities with a view to better understanding user needs and identifying key requirements for future EGNSS upgrades and evolutions.
Various studies have shown the growing impact that RPAS will have on our daily lives. In fact, RPAS have already started bringing significant benefits all over Europe and the market is set to continue growing, in line with growth in the number applications. These applications come in a great variety including, but not limited to, delivery services, aerial photography and mapping, and precision agriculture.
Read this: EGNOS and Galileo – opening the door to new drone applications
Europe has the opportunity to obtain a significant role in this rapidly evolving global marketplace but, in order to unlock this opportunity actions are needed at the EU level to both boost innovative capabilities and implement comprehensive regulation to create a single drone market.
Have your say!
GNSS is the backbone technology underpinning the navigation solutions used for RPAS applications and this is expected to remain true in the future. For this reason, the GSA wants to make sure that EGNSS continues to meet the requirements and expectations of the RPAS user community. But, to do this, we need some input from you.
We have put together a short RPAS user requirements survey to help us better understand the needs and requirements of RPAS users. The survey consists of approximately 20 questions, and should not take longer than five minutes of your time to fill in. You can access the survey here – it will remain open until 30 November 2018, but there is no time like the present!
By filling in this survey, you will help the GSA to better understand user needs and the value that users attribute to GNSS. With this information, we can deduce the requirements of future EGNSS upgrades and evolutions. The survey is intended for all stakeholders in the RPAS value chain, but it is mainly focussed on operators, manufacturers of RPAS and navigation systems, and aviation authorities.
Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).
The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is currently conducting a survey among operators and manufacturers of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and aviation authorities with a view to better understanding user needs and identifying key requirements for future EGNSS upgrades and evolutions.
Various studies have shown the growing impact that RPAS will have on our daily lives. In fact, RPAS have already started bringing significant benefits all over Europe and the market is set to continue growing, in line with growth in the number applications. These applications come in a great variety including, but not limited to, delivery services, aerial photography and mapping, and precision agriculture.
Read this: EGNOS and Galileo – opening the door to new drone applications
Europe has the opportunity to obtain a significant role in this rapidly evolving global marketplace but, in order to unlock this opportunity actions are needed at the EU level to both boost innovative capabilities and implement comprehensive regulation to create a single drone market.
GNSS is the backbone technology underpinning the navigation solutions used for RPAS applications and this is expected to remain true in the future. For this reason, the GSA wants to make sure that EGNSS continues to meet the requirements and expectations of the RPAS user community. But, to do this, we need some input from you.
We have put together a short RPAS user requirements survey to help us better understand the needs and requirements of RPAS users. The survey consists of approximately 20 questions, and should not take longer than five minutes of your time to fill in. You can access the survey here – it will remain open until 30 November 2018, but there is no time like the present!
By filling in this survey, you will help the GSA to better understand user needs and the value that users attribute to GNSS. With this information, we can deduce the requirements of future EGNSS upgrades and evolutions. The survey is intended for all stakeholders in the RPAS value chain, but it is mainly focussed on operators, manufacturers of RPAS and navigation systems, and aviation authorities.
Media note: This feature can be republished without charge provided the European GNSS Agency (GSA) is acknowledged as the source at the top or the bottom of the story. You must request permission before you use any of the photographs on the site. If you republish, we would be grateful if you could link back to the GSA website (http://www.gsa.europa.eu).
Během Světového kosmického týdne na počátku tohoto měsíce padesát učitelů základních a středních škol z různých členských zemí a spolupracujících států ESA sdílelo své zkušenosti a nechalo se inspirovat vesmírem na podzimním učitelském workshopu ESA.
OZNÁMENÍ.
V pondělí 29. října 2018 bude katastrální pracoviště z důvodu přerušení dodávky elektřiny provozovatelem distribuční soustavy společností ČEZ Distribuce, a.s. UZAVŘENO.
Závěrečný díl miniseriálu představuje historicky nejstarší z představených crowdsourcingových aplikací. První sledování zemědělských strojů v našich aplikacích, tj. traktoru a přípojného zařízení, započalo v roce 2014, kontinuální měření pro 9 traktorů a 23 přípojných zařízení probíhá kontinuálně na testovacích farmách od března 2015 dosud. Kromě toho spolupracujeme nejen v rámci projektu DataBio přímo se společností Zetor, a.s. Nástroje vizuální […]
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Confluence of technologies enables project digital twins and performance digital twins for infrastructure engineering
LONDON, U.K. – The Year in Infrastructure 2018 Conference - 16 October 2018 – Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure, today announced the forthcoming availability of iTwin™ Services, digital twin cloud services for infrastructure projects (project digital twins) and assets (performance digital twins). iTwin™ Services can be transparently provisioned within Bentley’s Connected Data Environment (CDE) for ProjectWise and AssetWise users.
Requirements for Realizing the Potential of Infrastructure Digital Twins
Infrastructure asset owners and their teams have recognized the potential for leveraging digital twins in many ambitious use cases including the application of analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in simulations and decision support throughout the lifecycle of design, construction, and operations. To realize this potential, representations of assets need obviously to be digital—but to be safely relied upon as a twin there must be practical solutions for their synchronization to changing actual conditions in the real world. Moreover, merely capturing and representing physical conditions, including IoT inputs, can never be sufficient to understand, analyze, or model intended improvements, without also comprehending the “digital DNA” captured in the project or asset’s engineering specifications.
To actually be worthwhile, therefore, would-be digital twins for existing infrastructure must reliably synchronize reflections of both an asset’s physical reality, and its “virtuality” (engineering data). A digital twin can meet this requirement by geospatially converging the digital context (representing the physical) and digital components (representing the virtual), naturally resulting in an immersive environment for both visualization and analytics visibility.
To date, however, the evolving 3D physical reality of an as-operated asset has been too formidably difficult to capture digitally, let alone to keep up-to-date. Meanwhile, corresponding, as-operated engineering information tends to be unavailable or at best, dated, as typically an assortment of effectively inaccessible “dark data” in either opaque engineering files or unintelligent document formats. Bentley has now surmounted both of these challenges, with the confluence of its reality modeling, iModelHub, CDE, and web-visibility technologies.
Reality Modeling
A representation of any infrastructure asset’s physical reality can now be reliably captured and maintained through increasingly continuous surveys and Bentley’s reality modeling software, providing digital context in the form of “reality meshes”. Overlapping photographs and (as needed) supplemental laser scans, largely from drones and ground-level imagery, are processed to generate spatially-classified and engineering-ready reality meshes at any desired level of accuracy—within which each digital component can be automatically recognized and/or geospatially referenced. The reality mesh can provide an efficient and immersive visual “twin” to intuitively navigate for finding, viewing, and querying the associated information within, or related to, the asset’s digital engineering models.
Adding iModelHub within CDE
The challenge in comparably capturing and maintaining these engineering counterparts of the physical asset— its digital components—is the opacity of their existing representations, compounded by continuous changes. Bentley’s iModelHub, introduced in 2017, overcomes these hurdles through automated digital alignment (to achieve semantic consistency from otherwise dark data in known formats), and synchronization, based on change ledgers, corresponding to the CDE’s project workflows (ProjectWise) or configuration management (AssetWise).
Web Visibility
Once populated and synchronized by way of digital context and digital components, iTwin™ Services deliver their benefits through Bentley’s new (separately announced) open-source iModel.js library (iModeljs.org) for web-based immersive visualization. Infrastructure teams can easily develop custom applications that connect their digital twin for specific use cases by leveraging a vast open source ecosystem. In addition, a geospatially immersive environment for city-scale digital twins is now available through Bentley’s new OpenCities Planner services.
Introducing Project Digital Twins
ProjectWiseCONNECT Edition users of Bentley’s CDE can instantiate cloud-provisioned iTwin™ Services for any project without disruption to their existing ProjectWise workflows. iModelHub will then transparently create and maintain the project’s comprehensive iModel: a distributed database, with its intrinsic change ledger updated at each deliverable-in-progress check-in state. For each such update to engineering information, application-specific “information bridge” processing effectuates digital alignment of the iModel’s digital components.
To the extent of available reality modeling for the physical site, the CDE’s corresponding ContextShare service maintains updated digital context. The iModel’s digital components and ContextShare digital context are immersively merged through Navigator Web and iModel.js visualization, as authorized and secured by iModelHub.
Accordingly, iTwin™ Services enable comprehensive project status reviews to be continuously available, synchronized to any requested project state on the iModel change ledger timeline, and/or for visualization and analytics visibility into changes between any project timeline states. iTwin™ Services will also integrate Bentley’s SYNCHRO 4D construction modeling.
iTwin™ Services for project digital twins will be available early in 2019, with quarterly base subscription charges for each iTwin™ based upon its scale, in terms of digital components and digital context, and inclusive of cloud provisioning and web accessibility.
Adding Performance Digital Twins
The iModel.js library supports functionality to create and curate iTwins fit for particular asset performance purposes, including “agent” updating of “data lakes” for analytics visibility. This enables emerging AI and mixed reality technologies to be advantageously applied throughout an asset’s lifecycle, and across assets—relying, for assured fidelity spanning physical reality and engineering data, upon the necessary digital alignment, change synchronization, and immersive visualization uniquely provided by iTwin™Services.
Also at the Conference, Siemens and Bentley unveiled PlantSight™, a new range of cloud services to be jointly offered for as-operated digital twins of any process plants. PlantSight will provide increasingly comprehensive as-operated digital twin services, to incorporate Bentley’s AssetWise APM with Siemens’ operational technologies, MindSphere, and Teamcenter, for industrial plants’ asset performance modeling. And to accelerate owners going digital, Atos and Bentley announced a new strategic partnership to create and curate performance digital twins.
Keith Bentley, Bentley Systems founder and CTO, said “Our work with early adopters of iModelHub over the past year has confirmed to me that its unique strengths for alignment, accountability, and accessibility find their highest and best use, in conjunction with our reality modeling technologies, for enabling project digital twins and performance digital twins. I look forward to actively working with users and external developers to create an open ecosystem of innovation for iTwin™Services, leveraging the iModel.js library. I expect Bentley Systems to lead the infrastructure engineering community, as the ‘infrastructure digital twin’ company!” Learn More.
About Bentley Systems
Bentley Systems is the leading global provider of software solutions to engineers, architects, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators for the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure. Bentley’s MicroStation-based engineering and BIM applications, and its digital twin cloud services, advance the project delivery (ProjectWise) and the asset performance (AssetWise) of transportation and other public works, utilities, industrial and resources plants, and commercial and institutional facilities.
Bentley Systems employs more than 3,500 colleagues, generates annual revenues of $700 million in 170 countries, and has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions since 2012. From inception in 1984, the company has remained majority-owned by its five founding Bentley brothers. Bentley shares transact by invitation on the NASDAQ Private Market; strategic partner Siemens AG has accumulated a non-voting minority stake.
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Bentley, the Bentley logo, AssetWise, Connected Data Environment, ContextCapture, iModel, iModelHub, iTwin, MicroStation, Navigator Web, OpenCities Planner, ProjectWise, and SYNCHRO are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. PlantSight is a trademark of Siemens AG and Siemens PLMS Inc. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
In emergency situations, robotic systems play a key role in providing rescue teams with remote access to an emergency site. The ERL Emergency Local Tournament 2019 aims to foster advanced developments of autonomous capabilities and seamless navigation for emergency robotic systems.
The European Robotics League (ERL) is an innovative robot competition that stems from its predecessors - the euRathlon and RoCKIn competitions - and focuses on tasks that robots must execute in realistic emergency situations. The competition is composed of multiple local tournaments, held in different locations across Europe, in addition to a few major events.
The first of the challenges was announced in July 2018, and focused on land and sea robotic systems. The second, to be held in February 2019 at the premises of the Advanced Centre for Aerospace Technologies (CATEC) in Seville, Spain, will include air and land robots working in an outdoor/indoor environment. You can find more information about the challenges here.
Read this: Integrating GNSS in UAVs for faster SAR
Teams participate in a minimum of two tournaments (local and/or major) per year and get scores based on their performances. Each team’s top two tournament scores are then added together and the teams are ranked based on their cumulative score. Prizes for the top teams are awarded at the following year’s European Robotics Forum (ERF).
The European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA) will award a special prize at ERL Emergency 2019 focusing on robots that make use of solutions based on Galileo and EGNOS.
For air robots, this challenge will involve two types of tasks: horizontal accuracy in landings at a specific geographic coordinate; and vertical accuracy while hovering at a specific geographic coordinate. For land robots, there will be only one type of task - horizontal accuracy during waypoint-based navigation.
Visual markers will be used to support the assessment of both types of task. To be eligible for the award, a team must have executed valid trials of the tasks. The team deemed to have achieved the best results will be declared the winner. For information on Galileo capable receivers and navigation kits for robotic systems visit https://www.usegalileo.eu/EN/.
If you are interested, on 22nd October 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM CEST we will be holding a webinar on 'How to submit a winning proposal for the Emergency 2019 – robots to the rescue, competition!'
You can register to the webinar here.
Ready to join the ERL Emergency Local Tournament? Register your team here by the deadline of 29 October 2018.
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Na stránkách Konference GIS Esri v ČR nyní naleznete časový harmonogram jednotlivých sekcí a můžete si přečíst abstrakty přihlášených příspěvků.
Vedle podrobného programu jsme připravili i časový rozvrh tematických miniseminářů, které se budou opět konat na stánku technické podpory. Z doprovodného programu se pak můžete těšit třeba na oblíbené postery, výstavu ke stému výročí založení československé vojenské zeměpisné služby a pětistému výročí Klaudyánovy mapy.
GIS sú silným nástrojom, ktorý nájde domov takmer v každej disciplíne na svete. Milióny rozhodnutí sú podporované pomocou GIS. Pekný pohľad na GIS a jeho využitie v širokom spektre disciplín dáva nasledujúci sprievodca 1000 GIS aplikáciami (odkaz na stránku je dostupný tu). Je možné tu nájsť napr. rôzne prípadové štúdie, taktiež inšpiráciu pre rôzne študentské/podnikateľské GIS projekty […]
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GISMentors vypsali na tento podzim celkem 6 kurzů open source GIS. Kurzy pokrývají spektrum desktop GIS (QGIS pro začátečníky a pokročilé, GRASS GIS pro začátečníky), databáze (PostGIS a PostgreSQL pro začátečníky) a zpracování prostorových dat v jazyce Python. Přihlaste se na kurz včas pro menší kurzovné , termíny se blíží. Pokud je vás skupina nebo máte zájem o více kurzů, neváhejte nás […]
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Nově byla zpracována mapová aplikace"Rozhledny a vyhlídky v ÚK" Mapová aplikace Vás provede něk olika zajímavými místy, odkud jsou krásné výhledy do krajiny. Ať navštívíte nějakou vyhlídku či jednu z mnoho rozhleden v kraji, pohledy z nich Vás nikdy nezklamou a pokud se budet chtít s ostaními o výhled podělit, můžete nám zaslat pořízené foto a my ho můžeme zveřejnit.
Mapovou aplikaci naleznete na úvodní straně a také v sekci MAPY - > Turistika a cestovní ruch- > Rozhledny a vyhlídky v Ústeckém kraji.
The Cha’anling-Ziaojiazhou region in China’s Zianning District is a highly developed region and home to 350,000 consumers of electricity. Historically, the region has experienced unreliable power supply, making consumer delivery unstable. Cha’anling-Ziaojiazhou is highly urban, with complex topology complicating the task of adding new power lines. Moreover, major highways that cross the region complicate the ability to add new transmission lines without impacting commercial and residential traffic. Further complicating potential improvements, the region borders the flood diversion area of the Yangtze River, meaning that potential flooding around future towers must be accounted for from the beginning. These factors mean that finding a solution to deliver improved power requires a new approach.
The Hubei Provincial Electric Power Survey and Design Institute was tasked with designing and delivering a new 220-kilovolt transmission line to provide power for a newly constructed substation in Xiaojiazhou. This transmission line is a significant step for improving the lives of the 350,000 daily users in Jiayu County. However, the obstacles that faced the Design Institute are significant. To solve these challenges, the engineering teams began by creating a fully immersive digital twin of the affected regions using ContextCapture. Modeling the entire region, including multiple cities and highways, established an immersive digital baseline from which the design studies could be made. Leveraging Bentley’s OpenBuildings Designer, Bentley Substation, and STAAD.Pro, Hubei’s engineers created a digital engineering model of the transmission line, which could be added to and combined with the immersive digital twin to visualize the new line and identify potential obstacles and issues. Analyses of the design could be performed and optimized to ensure that the new towers were structurally sound, to minimize interference with the urban and traffic areas, and to reduce design time compared to previous methods. The resulting design, leveraging Bentley’s iModel technology, was fully deployable into a three-dimensional earth view, ensuring that multiple stakeholders could review the planned route and design.
Implementing a completely digital workflow combined with immersive models has paid significant dividends during the design phase. In addition to increasing online collaboration, planned design time was reduced by 12 percent, checking time by 16 percent, and planned field work by five days. The design saved six houses in the region from being demolished, while ensuring that each of the major crossing areas were optimally designed. Design optimizations resulted in savings of material costs, with the new tower designs reducing weights by 1.2 percent and the total route length decreasing by half of a kilometer.
Through increased collaboration with contractors and design departments, design reviews to reduce conflicts between towers, lines, and the environment were optimized, reducing future rework and in-field problems. Using a digital design and collaboration model, the Hubei Provincial Electric Power Survey and Design Institute realized savings of more than CNY 6 million on a CNY 32.21 million project. The Hubei Provincial Electric Power Survey and Design Institute’s transformation to a digital environment has resulted in a design that not only saves money but also improves the lives of the residents in the Xianning District while preserving the environment.
Liang Zhang, an engineer with POWERCHINA Hubei Electric Engineering Corporation Limited, said, “The innovative use of Bentley software for the design of overhead electric transmission lines reduced design time by approximately 40 hours through multidiscipline collaboration. The full electric transmission line pole tower layout model, supported by the reality model, reduced the checking and auditing time by 32 hours. About 12 percent of the total design time and 16 percent of the checking time were reduced.”As part of a coordinated development plan, Zhongguancun will integrate the resources of Beijing, Tianjin, and Zhongguancun to build a new science and technology city. The CNY 2.2 billion project includes the design and construction of roads, utility pipelines, a 174,000-square-meter park, and green roadsides spanning 477,000 square meters. Given the large geographic span, wide construction area, and tight construction timeline, the overall project consultant CCCC Water Transportation Planning Design Institute (CCCC) implemented a collaborative BIM process to coordinate the many engineering disciplines to deliver the new digital city.
In keeping with the idea of a truly digital city that incorporates a municipality’s needed services, the project scope encompasses a wide range of utility, transportation, and environmental disciplines. Included within the project scope is the construction of 16 roads with a length of approximately 30 kilometers; a layout of rain and sewage diversion pipelines with a length of approximately 78 kilometers; water supply pipelines with a length of approximately 40 kilometers; intermediate water pipelines with a length of approximately 26 kilometers; gas pipelines with a length of approximately 43 kilometers; thermal power pipelines with a length of approximately 40 kilometers; power pipelines with a length of approximately 45 kilometers; and telecommunication pipelines with a length of approximately 39 kilometers. Additionally, the project team is responsible for designing and constructing a city park with an area of approximately 174,000 square meters. The roadside will be green with an area of approximately 477,000 square meters, and the river and water environment will be comprehensively improved. CCCC acts as the overall consultant and implementer of the BIM process on this project. The organization is responsible for the creation and application of BIM technology in the design, construction, and operation and maintenance of models in all stages. CCCC is responsible for setting up a BIM project management platform, building project digital assets, and assisting the construction of the regional smart park and smart city.
Using Bentley’s integrated BIM applications, including ContextCapture, LumenRT, MicroStation, Navigator, OpenBridge Modeler, OpenRoads, ProjectWise, ProStructures the team generated a comprehensive 3D model of the entire city. CCCC identified and remedied more than 200 collision points, optimizing design and reducing costly rework. Performing construction simulation facilitated construction management, shortening the construction period by 64 days to save CNY 6.6 million in costs. ProjectWise provided a connected data environment to streamline workflows and improve design efficiency. Integrating ContextCapture to generate a reality mesh from UAV terrain data collected on site enabled the team to facilitate earthworks planning, saving approximately CNY 40 million.
The South-to-North Water Diversion Project is a major foundational strategic project to alleviate the severe shortage of water resources in northern China, especially in the capital of Beijing, to optimize the allocation of water resources, and to support the development of Beijing and Tianjin. The Beijing Institute of Water was tasked with this CNY 3.4 billion project to support the Hexi Branch sub-project in creating construction drawings of multiple pumping stations, water transmission lines, and water treatment plants.
Leveraging BIM methodologies to manage the design and information management, the entire system was designed using 3D modeling and Bentley’s ProjectWise as the central collaboration environment. From these design models, construction drawings and secondary design analyses were conducted using MicroStation for annotation and rebar assessment, greatly improving the efficiency of creating detailed drawings. In addition, the project team used Descartes to create surface digital engineering models and building models, allowing the team to track construction completion digitally, rather than relying on paper queries for information.
Bentley’s HAMMER was used to analyze and calculate the hydraulic transition between the pumping stations and to calculate pressure distribution along the path in case of pump shutdown, ensuring that the system can operate safely under any circumstance. Three-dimensional geological models of the entire site using MicroStation resulted in 60 percent faster modeling times compared to previous 2D methodologies. This process also enabled the direct creation of a complex pipeline mesh model to calculate the shortest clear directions to optimize the design and protection of various pipelines. This innovative, first-of-a-kind approach saved 80 percent in design time compared to previous 2D methods.
By combining full lifecycle management concepts, the Hexi branch project carried out design work of intelligent water in the initial design phase. From this intelligent water design, the project has developed a strong technical basis to support operation of the project through leveraging 3D collaborative design results, building reliable model information archives and enabling the project to fully realize digital design, digital construction management, and digital operations.
Xin Yin, chief engineer of the Information Center for the Institute, stated, “This project is not only an example of 3D application in water supply engineering for an urban long-distance tunnel, but it is also a successful 3D practice in design, construction, and management. Taking this project as a symbol, we will lead 3D design trends in long-distance, super-large-pipe water transmission engineering, ushering in a new era in the industry in which 3D collaborative design is widely applied to the field of water conservancy design.”Constructioneering Academies expand insights, create change
LONDON – The Year in Infrastructure 2018 Conference – October 15, 2018 – Topcon Positioning Group, a world leader in positioning technology for the survey and construction industries, and Bentley Systems, the leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure, announce new developments in the constructioneering workflow initiative.
Constructioneering Academy
The Bentley Year in Infrastructure Conference 2018 (YII) marks the first anniversary of the launch of the Constructioneering Academy initiative of Topcon and the Bentley Institute. The program has been held in multiple locations across North America and Australia throughout the first year and now expands into Europe with the first London-based Constructioneering Academy, part of the YII.
“The Constructioneering Academies are filled with a mix of professionals from companies, governmental agencies and organizations who are involved in putting important infrastructure projects into motion and seeing them through to completion. The uniqueness of the dialogue taking place among participants, representing more than 80 organizations in the first year, cannot be overstated,” said Ewout Korpershoek, executive vice president of Topcon Positioning Group. “The program’s educational and collaborative atmosphere is creating awareness of potential productivity gaps that can be encountered on a project, and how those gaps can be filled, resulting in a paradigm shift in how work can be accomplished.”
Alan Lamont, Bentley Systems’ vice president for Digital Advancement Academies, said, “The active participation and feedback that we have experienced during the various Constructioneering Academy events have been very informative and encouraging. The level of interest and feedback demonstrate that there is a clear need for automated digital workflows between design and construction to help project teams be more efficient and avoid mistakes. We look forward to expanding the reach of Constructioneering Academies to other geographic locations.”
“We are looking forward to building upon the success of the inaugural year of the Constructioneering Academy,” said Ron Oberlander, vice president of Global Professional Services for Topcon Positioning Group. “The industry needs these types of programs as a catalyst to drive digital automation adoption. A key part of the initiative is the interaction of field and office professionals from the ‘front lines’ and we are excited to provide this opportunity to professionals around the world.
“We believe the Constructioneering Academies are truly fostering progress. For the industry to be successful in meeting future infrastructure demands, we have to change the mindsets and processes on how we approach construction. What Topcon and Bentley have initiated and will continue to evolve is an exciting journey to help shape that change,” Oberlander said.
As additional dates and locations for the Constructioneering Academy become available, they will be provided at constructioneering.com/academy.
Integration agreement
As part of the ongoing constructioneering initiative, the companies have signed an agreement that will integrate the Topcon point cloud and 3D mesh service, MAGNET Collage Web, with the Bentley ContextCapture Cloud Processing Service. The Bentley cloud service enables operators to upload UAV imagery direct-to-web without the need for high-end hardware requirements or IT constraints. Topcon instrument, control systems and software users will benefit from an industry-leading, cloud-based photogrammetric engine for fast generation of 3D engineering-ready reality meshes and digital surface models.
Ted Lamboo, senior vice president of Bentley’s strategic partnerships, said, “We are very pleased with Topcon’s expanded commitment, through MAGNET Collage Web integration, to Bentley’s ContextCapture reality modeling cloud services. Now, all of Topcon’s positioning technologies can help to continuously survey a site’s digital context, synchronizing project digital twins to make constructioneering even more compelling.”
“The agreement for a web-based integrated workflow solution is an excellent example of the ongoing collaboration of Topcon and Bentley to simplify and speed up digital construction workflows,” Korpershoek said. “Through our partnership, we are continuously working together to create new solutions to improve survey, engineering, and construction processes.”
About Topcon Positioning Group
Topcon Positioning Group is headquartered in Livermore, California, U.S. (topconpositioning.com). Its European head office is in Capelle a/d IJssel, the Netherlands. Topcon Positioning Group designs, manufactures and distributes precision measurement and workflow solutions for the global construction, geospatial and agriculture markets. Its brands include Topcon, Sokkia, Tierra, Digi-Star, RDS Technology, and NORAC. Topcon Corporation (topcon.com), founded in 1932, is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7732).
About Bentley Systems
Bentley Systems is the leading global provider of software solutions to engineers, architects, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators for the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure. Bentley’s MicroStation-based engineering and BIM applications, and its digital twin cloud services, advance the project delivery (ProjectWise) and the asset performance (AssetWise) of transportation and other public works, utilities, industrial and resources plants, and commercial and institutional facilities.
Bentley Systems employs more than 3,500 colleagues, generates annual revenues of $700 million in 170 countries, and has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions since 2012. From inception in 1984, the company has remained majority-owned by its five founding Bentley brothers. Bentley shares transact by invitation on the NASDAQ Private Market; strategic partner Siemens AG has accumulated a non-voting minority stake.
About Constructioneering
Constructioneering automates digital construction processes through surveying, engineering design, constructible model development, and as-built data collection within a connected data environment to improve construction execution and reduce project costs.
About Constructioneering Academy
The Constructioneering Academy is designed to educate civil design build professionals on the digital construction process. Attendees will learn how they can leverage mass data, digital cameras, design models, and automated machine control to win more work and execute their next project more efficiently.
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Press Contact:
Topcon Positioning Group
CorpComm@topcon.com
Staci Fitzgerald, +1 925-245-8610
Oman Gas Company (OGC) is the principal gas transportation company of the Sultanate of Oman established in 2000. OGC operates a 2,500-kilometer high-pressure gas transmission network that runs the length and breadth of the Sultanate with annual gas transmission volumes of around 21.549 billion cubic meters. Other facilities include three compressor stations and 38 gas supply stations. The majority of the Sultanate’s industrial sectors, from power and desalination plants to fertilizer, methanol, petrochemicals, refineries, steel, and cement plants, rely on OGC to deliver the gas for their operations.
OGC adopted an advanced reliability and integrity program that ensures production availability to meet its customer demands and achieve its goal of becoming “a world-class midstream gas value chain company.” The organization has digitized its reliability and maintenance program by implementing Bentley’s AssetWise Asset Reliability solution. To reduce human intervention and avoid human fault analysis, the system leverages the inherent capabilities of AssetWise Asset Reliability to automate several processes including:
The software utilizes these inputs to calculate reliability and availability of an individual asset based on an exponential reliability model. The weekly calculations are based on series and parallel configurations, which were previously performed monthly by a dedicated reliability engineer using Excel spreadsheets.
The system introduces digital workflows using handheld devices for routine operator duties to bridge the disconnect between engineers and field operators by mapping trends, monitoring operational parameters, and providing necessary technical support remotely. It also ensures that operational key performance indicators (KPIs) are achieved by monitoring the compliance status regularly.
Bentley’s AssetWise Asset Reliability solution triggers an alert and email notification as soon as any value is out of range. With this technology, OGC has calculated a significant increase in reliability performance. This calculation is based on failure reduction against Mean Time to Repair and Cost of Lost Production Opportunity, which greatly impacts revenues and profits.
Fahmi Reza, head of reliability and condition monitoring, Oman Gas Company, said, “The auto-alert and email notification features of Bentley’s AssetWise Asset Reliability are enabling us to improve our reliability growth at a significant rate of about 9 percent in a year.”High Speed 2 (HS2), the new high-speed rail network that will run between London in the south and Manchester and Leeds to the north, is one of the most challenging and complex projects that the United Kingdom has undertaken. With trains eventually operating at speeds of up to 250 mph – faster than any other network in Europe – the entire scheme is priced at GBP 56 billion and is the most expensive construction project in Europe to date.
The Skanska Costain STRABAG (SCS) JV brings together the combination of tried, tested, and successful partnerships and worldwide high-speed rail experience for phase 1 between London and Birmingham. This phase includes approximately 200 kilometers of new high-speed rail and four new stations across seven main works civil contracts, three separate enabling works contracts, and six route-wide systems contracts in addition to new rolling stock.
Bentley’s OpenRail solution, comprising applications and services for the comprehensive planning, engineering, project delivery, and operations of rail and transit infrastructure, is enabling SCS to meet the timescales it has set. OpenRail’s foundation, Bentley’s Connected Data Environment (CDE), which leverages digital workflows including those outlined in the PAS 1192 suite of British Standards, is providing the project team with access to trusted information wherever and whenever it is needed. In combination with Bentley’s integrated applications that include OpenRail Designer, OpenRoads, and OpenBuildings Designer, the solution is streamlining the detailed engineering and design of portals, tunnels, ventilation shafts, retaining structures, and earthworks through the automation of previously manual processes. In this way, OpenRail is helping the digital advancement of SCS’s team and work on this complex project in many areas, a few of which include:
With OpenBuildings Designer being used as the principal modeling application due to its data group and information management properties, the team is thinking about the future operation and maintenance of the railway. By linking asset information directly to the design model, SCS is enabling discussions with operators and maintainers to happen much earlier on with a project of HS2’s size and complexity, allowing different stakeholders to comment on the design and change elements that they feel will make a tangible contribution to the safe and efficient running of the network.
“Using Bentley solutions has allowed us at SCS to realize our mission statement of creating a project that will be seen as the ‘Digital Blueprint of Future Infrastructure Projects,’” said Peter Ruff, head of BIM for SCS. “They have allowed us to create, manage, and leverage intelligent BIM models and the data housed within them on a complex project, and see a significant increase in productivity, efficiencies, and collaboration between a large team and a multi-staged contract.”
CSX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries based in Jacksonville, Fla., is one of North America’s leading transportation suppliers. With a transportation network that encompasses 21,000 route miles of track in 23 states, the District of Columbia, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, it operates an average of 1,300 trains per day, and transports more than 6.5 million carloads of products and raw materials a year.
Each year, its capital planning team receives more than 5,000 requests to replace worn rail in curves from its track supervisors. Prior to its utilization of OpenRail’s Operational Analytics, the team utilized data from multiple sources, including Rail Wear Measures, Sperry Car Defects, Rail History, and Tonnage to research and validate existing conditions before performing a manual review of each request to identify those that show evidence of poor condition. This onerous process was time consuming, tedious, and had the potential for human error.
In response to this challenge, CSX deployed OpenRail’s Operational Analytics to integrate data that previously existed across multiple silos into one interactive and graphical view. The simplification of this important first step, enabling timely access to trusted information wherever and whenever it is needed, provides CSX with the platform to deliver improved accuracy and efficiency from the word go.
The systems’ ability to link data visualization in OpenRail’s Operational Analytics with CSX’s legacy Patch Rail Request system allows team members to drill down into all data relating to a selected asset or work request, plus the ability to review embedded information including supporting photos and documentation. This seamless user experience provides the ability to approve of Patch Rail requests in real-time, has allowed CSX to reduce its annual patch rail planning program by more than a month, and is enabling more informed decisions at every step of the process. Building on the success of this digital advancement project, CSX is already looking at ways to replicate it for other work types, such as gauging and concrete pad repair.
CSX’s Jennifer Hollar, manager of engineering systems, explained, “OpenRail’s Operational Analytics has significantly reduced the time and effort involved in performing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of annual capital planning reviews for the CSX Patch Rail Program.”
The INR 11.98 billion Chenab Rail Bridge, which is under construction, is located between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India. At 359 meters above the river bed, the rail-arch bridge will be the highest in the world and, with an arch span of 467 meters and 1,315 meters in length, the longest span-exclusive, broad-gauge rail line and seventh longest single span bridge. The bridge is a part of the Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Line (JUSBRL) project being undertaken by the Indian Ministry of Railways, which consists of many tunnels and bridges in highly rugged and mountainous terrain with difficult Himalayan geology. The bridge will reduce the current 12 hours of travel time to six hours to help stimulate the local economy and provide weather connectivity between the summer and winter capitals of Jammu and Kashmir.
The alignment crosses the deep gorges of the Chenab River near Salal Hydro Power Dam, which necessitates the construction of a high, long-span bridge. A steel arch configuration was chosen for the aesthetics, economy, and availability of local expertise and construction materials. The bridge site selection was based on important technical and geological parameters, such as the narrow valley at the site, competent rock mass at each bank, favorable orientation of joint sets, straight reach, and river flow without cross-currents.
The project faced several challenges, such as slope stabilization, high-wind, extreme weather, seismic activity, and possible terrorist attacks, which required the bridge to be built to withstand 260-kilometers-per-hour wind forces, blast impact loads, and temperatures below -20 degrees Celsius. Sophisticated train control and bridge monitoring are also required to ensure train regulation for wind speeds, earthquake activity, and strain gauging of critical steel components. Construction must be done with cable cars, using the world’s longest span cable crane.
The organization used OpenRail Designer to meet the rigorous rail alignment demands, OpenBridge for bridge planning and analysis, and STAAD for structural behavior analysis of the massive bridge. ContextCapture was used for construction planning, monitoring, inspection, and surveying. The application was critical in managing the construction site progress and conducting inspection during construction to accelerate the project and ensure quality, repeatable documentation of the bridge inspection. ContextCapture helped save 225 days in surveying, equating to USD 40,000 in savings, and reduced construction inspection time by 80 percent, resulting in savings of more than USD 100,000.
B.P. Awasthi, executive director – Track at Indian Railways, noted, “Bentley’s ContextCapture solution empowered our project teams to efficiently and effectively carry out construction monitoring, ensuring immersive visibility, safety, and adherence to delivery schedules.”
As one of the first rail railway bridge projects in India to adopt the latest technology to traditional survey and construction work, the success of this iconic project will change traditional workflows and will trigger the use of modern tools in similar projects worldwide.
The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) initiated an estimated USD 750 million reconstruction project to replace structurally deficient and functionally obsolete interstate bridges through downtown Birmingham. The existing bridges are located along the only east-west interstate through the Birmingham Business District and is primarily an elevated six-lane-divided highway through this 3.5-mile section of the city. The twin bridges include 189 bridge spans, which require new girders and deck sections. The reconstruction project consisted of 23 new bridges, eight bridge widenings, five bridge replacements, and 16 retaining walls.
ALDOT understood that the construction process had to be precise and efficient with as few construction delays as possible. For these reasons, ALDOT used 3D design and construction analysis to identify potential issues and potential construction delays before the project broke ground. The visualization group of ALDOT’s design bureau was tasked with providing a complete 3D model. To support precise cost estimation and lower bids for the project, it was critical that the digital engineering model include accurate and timely data to support multiple uses, including visualizations, design checks, construction analysis, clash detection, right-of-way negotiations, lawsuits, aesthetics, and construction bidding.
The project faced many challenges, including a fast-paced schedule, information coordination, utility coordination, public involvement, and changes in the overall design. Because of public and stakeholder concerns, the visualization group used MicroStation Luxology rendering capabilities and LumenRT to create visualizations that were instrumental in winning approval for the project.
To meet the objectives of replacing the structurally deficient and functionally obsolete interstate bridges, ALDOT used 3D design technology to ensure efficient designs, and eliminate costly construction delays. The scheduling of the project was critical, and the design needed to be created quickly and information exchanged across teams to support the 14-month construction schedule.
A critical element in any construction project are utilities, and ALDOT invested millions into locating and relocating them, engaging the visualization group to ensure that there were no clashes in the model. The organization used MicroStation’s clash detection capability to ensure that utilities were properly located in the design to minimize errors in construction. ALDOT saved over USD 10 million by implementing the BIM review methodology supported by Bentley’s technology.
Bentley’s applications also allowed ALDOT to reduce the environmental impact by minimizing noise levels in a developed urban area and eliminating dangerous and unnecessary access points along the interstate. OpenRoads was used to create the digital terrain models, and StormCAD, CulverMaster, and FlowMaster were used to address drainage and utilities design. ALDOT used ProjectWise to allowed designers, department heads, drafters, reviewers, and consulting teams to have access and ensured that everyone was working on the right data.
Using ProjectWise on the project, which is currently under construction, helped the consulting firms save thousands of dollars on time and delivery, and ALDOT to save tens of thousands of hours creating 3D models to meet the rigorous scheduling demands. ProjectWise enabled inspectors and contractors to access design files on tablets, saving hundreds of hours in meeting time and processes used on previous workflows.
Matt Taylor, P.E., state engineer, ALDOT, said, “Using Bentley’s integrated civil design and collaboration applications allowed us to quickly produce an accurate 3D model that included grade, terrain, signage, pave, striping, signals, lighting, bridges, drainage, and utilities. It eliminated design errors, minimized construction change orders, and helped save waste in public money while building safer infrastructure.”
Bankura is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is part of Medinipur—one of the state’s five administrative divisions. The Damodar River flows in the northern part of the Bankura district and separates it from the major part of the Burdwan district. The district has been described as the “connecting link between the plains of Bengal on the east and the Chota Nagpur plateau on the west.” West Bengal Bankura has been selected for this water distribution improvement project by the Public Health and Environmental Engineering Department (PHED) of West Bengal. PHED is headquartered at Kolkata for Multi-Village Bulk Water Supply Projects and is jointly funded by PHED and the Asian Development Bank.
This project was limited to four of the eight blocks in the Bankura District: Mejhia, Gangajalghati, Indpur, and Taldangra, and is of critical importance to the region, as less than 4 percent of the 359,172 habitants in the 600 villages contained within the four blocks have a piped drinking water supply. The aim of this project is to connect the remaining 96 percent of the population through developing new water systems to meet supply, while rehabilitating the existing, aged water system to continue supplying existing customers. The scope of the project calls for adding 4,000 kilometers of new pipeline to the existing 100 kilometers of pipeline, leveraging a single hydraulic model covering more than 50 unique scenarios. DTK Hydronet Solutions used Bentley’s WaterGEMS to perform the design engineering on this INR 12.38 billion project to improve the lives of more than 1 million inhabitants in the region.
Projects of similar scope had required four months of effort to create the initial hydraulic model. Using WaterGEMS, DTK Hydronet Solutions’ engineers accomplished this new model in one month, saving 75 percent in project resource-hour costs. WaterGEMS’ sophisticated modeling capabilities enabled the team to model the existing network and develop proposed roadmaps for the new network in a single GIS model, including assessing more than 39,000 junctions within the network.
Village population and density projections were included to help future-proof the design. This solution enabled the team to create its initial model of the entire network (existing and proposed new) in just five days. Difficult topography assessments, changes in transmission routes, optimal scheduling of pumping operations and energy-to-cost calculations were all performed on the model as it was revised to yield the final proposed design. In only 25 days, not only was the initial design created, optimized, and finalized, but multiple worst-case scenarios, high-demand analysis, and other “what-if” scenarios were assessed that could not have been performed outside of the single hydraulic model in WaterGEMS.
Devashir Karve, water engineering consultant at DTK Hydronet Solutions, said, “Bentley WaterGEMS enabled ‘conceptioneering’ in this 4,000 kilometer-long, multi-village rural water supply’s single hydraulic model to benefit about 1 million villagers in India. Design evaluation and analysis was efficiently done in an optimal timeframe of 25 man-days making the project the first of its kind!”