提供一个项目的一个公共机构。S. can feel like a strange, parallel world compared to the commercial construction sector. While contractors, engineers and design firms now work through the details of moving their own shops from established 3D BIM frameworks to 5D and digital twin-based workflows, designs and bids for public projects are still happening in 2D, with a lot of time spent recreating models and schedules to fit older standards. This has been frustrating for agencies, designers and contractors alike, but recent efforts to advance standardization, plus funding tucked away in the recently passed $1.2-trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) may spur the broader advancement of digital processes on public infrastructure work.

“We’ve been encouraging the term 'digital project delivery,'” explains David Unkefer, senior construction engineer with the Federal Highway Authority. “which means state DOTs push forward their ability to take a project digitally from beginning to digital as-builts.” Unkefer is quick to point out that much of what FHWA does is advisory, and the way transportation is organized in the U.S. leaves it to states to step up and seek the necessary grants and aid to advance these digital transitions. But a few state DOTs have been pushing the boundaries of digital delivery, and Unkefer says it is likely that other states will begin drafting in behind them.

犹他州运输部正在以3D的形式通过设计和施工来移动项目，从而节省了时间，并减少承包商在赢18luck官网得竞标后花费重做模型所需的时间。
图像提供的乌约特
*Click on the image for greater detail

There have been some steps taken at the national level toward standardization. In 2021, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) officially endorsed the use of the IFC file formats, an open standard for interoperable file transfers through different software platforms for design, construction and fabrication.

但机构接受国际金融公司只是第一部分of the puzzle, says Unkefer. “AASHTO has adopted one important standard, IFC, so we’re expecting proprietary software [platforms] will begin to use IFC and other important standards…Then we can share data more seamlessly providing for much greater productivity,” he says. A spokesperson from FHWA adds that while "FHWA promotes the use of open data standards, while not mandating them," it has, in the past, "done research and a global benchmarking study that confirmed the importance of open standards such as IFC."

以IIJA的规定形式采用技术，也有个好消息。第13006条规定了“加速实施和部署高级数字建筑管理系统”。该规定在整个施工生命周期中建立了一个计划，将更先进的数字交付方法和技术带入包括互操作性的公共项目。18luck官网

“There’s definitely an expectation in Congress that states are already doing this more than the actual numbers bear out,” says David McKenney, vice president of government relations at Bentley Systems. But while process issues still need to be solved at the state level, McKenney sees the Infrastructure Act as one way to gets states to increase their usage of digital project workflows. “We do think the IIJA is a good step forward to help address those barriers.”

FHWA’s Unkefer says the IIJA mandate to boost adoption of these new technologies could take several forms, but may be delivered to states through grants similar to FHWA’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) demonstration program. According to a spokesperson for FHWA, the agency will manage the new Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems Program, which under the IIJA will be provided with $20 million annually over five years.

他补充说，但是将州运输部门进入现代数字工作流程并不是纯粹的自上而下的方法。取而代之的是，有几个点为他人开辟了道路。

图片由WSB提供
*Click on the image for greater detail

The 3D Model Is the Contract Document

犹他州的运输部已成为一个愿意尝试项目交付中的较新方法和方法的点，包括此后进入更广泛用途的技术，例如加速桥梁建设。但是，最近在此过程中较早的一项计划（在设计和竞标过程中使用数字交付方法）受到了承包商的称赞。UDOT根据自己的内部制定标准工作，已经使用这种方法竞标了几个项目。18luck官网

“We’ve had a few projects that we were able to move through where the digital document is the legal contract document,” explains Carlos Braceras, UDOT executive director. “It goes through design as a 3D model, and then that goes right to construction, which is then built as a 3D model that comes back to the statewide [model library]. We have one source of truth.”

图片由WSB提供
*Click on the image for greater detail

Braceras说，虽然基于模型的项目交付不是一个新概念，但国家点完全接受它是向前迈出的一大步。“我们需要向犹他州证明我们可以有效地做这些事情。我们需要冒险从项目中冒险，避免重新设计。18luck官网这一切都是关于这个共同的使命。”

UDOT标准和设计工程师乔治·卢克斯（George Lukes）说，到目前为止，UDOT18luck官网已将该模型作为法律文件授予并构建了15个项目，“没有切割纸，” UDOT标准和设计工程师乔治·卢克斯（George Lukes）说。在此过程中，承包商以与自己的3D工作流程兼容的格式获得设计文件，从而节省了以前将花在2D文档中重建整个模型的时间。

卢克斯说：“我们的一些主要承包商将该文件拿到了他们的软件中，在24或26天的广告期（出价）中只花了两到三天。”“然后，他们能够进行许多后勤计划，而不是浪费时间重新创建模型。”卢克斯说，随着更多时间计划和优化运输道路和设备登台，承包商的投标现在比州工程师的估计估计低20％至30％。不使用这种数字设计工作流的承包商的出价仅为4％至5％。尽管近年来材料成本和其他因素增加了竞标，但卢克斯表18luck.cub示，使用数字交付的15个项目中的大多数（如果不是全部）最终导致了估计的投标。18luck官网

图片由WSB提供
*Click on the image for greater detail

Rather than dragging contractors along with UDOT’s new workflow, Lukes says it was the state’s biggest contractors who were clamoring for more 3D model-driven processes. And it was thanks to a few FHWA grants that UDOT was able to get its own systems build up to handle it.

There are still some hiccups. Many subcontractors and fabricators still work in 2D, but Lukes says the contractors have stepped up to handle those model conversions for now. He also notes that UDOT is setting this process up as a model to other public agencies. “People can see that Utah has done it. We’ve shown the efficiencies and the ability to push the data out—that’s the bigger deal.”

Following AASHTO’s guidance on adopting IFC file formats and other standards will also help in the long run, Lukes says. Once that interoperability is in place, it won’t matter, for example, that UDOT works in a GIS-based system while a designer works in Bentley Systems products and a contractor uses Trimble software to plan out their work. “As long as we get the data and the others get the data they need, we don’t have to worry about the tools—they can use whatever is easiest for them.” he says.

模型项目转头

At first glance, the TH 169 highway interchange realignment in Elk River, Minn., doesn’t seem all that notable. Five at-grade intersections converted to highway interchanges with associated utility relocations make for a fairly standard project. But engineer WSB decided to show the Minnesota Dept. of Transportation what can be accomplished with 3D-model driven design and using a constantly updated digital twin.

WSB的高级总监兼运输经理Peter Muehlbach解释说：“这是一个三英里的走廊，但有超过60英里的公用事业。”“我们能够尽早确定这些工作，并提前完成这项工作。”WSB在Bentley OpenRoads中建立了整个项目的建模，并不断更新了MNDOT新利luck的数字双胞胎供评论。这是MNDOT监督的第一个完全3D项目，并且已经在代理机构中吸引了粉丝。

MNDOT的CAD主管Greg Hruby说：“他们能够在30％的[设计评论]上完成直到90％才知道的。”Hruby补充说，详细的3D模型允许在此过程中更早地解决公用事业搬迁和土地征用。Muehlbach说，使用数字双胞胎还有助于与Mndot和承包商Ames Construction进行冲突和分期问题。他解释说：“您这样做的传统方式是每个里程碑的30％，60％，90％的州审查。”“在这里，每个星期，我们都会研究新的设计决策。”

A 4D visualization let WSB model lane closures and equipment staging for the contractor, while the 3D models offered a straightforward way to identify clashes with existing utilities and communicate the needed relocations to the utilities companies. Muehlbach says the model was viewable through a simple web-based viewer, allowing MnDOT and other stakeholders to quickly review changes to the design. And it wasn’t done just so WSB could show off for MnDOT, he adds. “This delivery method wasn’t just [for] our numbers—it was helping the contractor validate how much MnDOT was saving.”

TH 169 Interchange项目的设计工作已完成，建设定于4月开始。Muehlbach说，WSB已经决定在明尼苏达州Moorhead的MNDOT的另一个项目中使用其3D优先的方法。

来自Aurigo（上图）或Bentley Systems（下）等供应商的软件可以为项目设计和执行提供优势，但是必须准备好使数字项目交付的好处做好准备。18luck官网
图片上面的图像由Aurigo软件提供，下面是纽约州点
*单击图像以获取更多详细信息

解决更广泛的问题

虽然有亮点,瑞玛仍障碍重重in for wider technology adoption in public infrastructure. At many DOTs, it’s not a matter of willingness to try new things, but finding the resources necessary to make the leap, says Mike Tooley, former head of Montana DOT and currently senior director of industry strategy at Aurigo Software, a provider of cloud-based capital project management tools. “Back when I first came on at Montana DOT, I was confronted with a wall of paper,” he recalls. “Everyone agreed the paper-based [system] was bad, but there was this perceived lack of resources—a failure to invest in our own technology infrastructure.”

Tooley notes the potential impact of technology investment in the context of the IIJA. “Vendors typically need one-quarter of one percent of your program to institute a system. That’s 5% or more in savings. If you take 5% savings in efficiency against $1.2 trillion, that’s $60 billion.”

Mndot的Hruby说，MNDOT试图朝着IIJA推进之前的数字化方向倾斜。“我们对数字模型有三个基本需求。首先，签名和密封该模型的能力。随之而来的是，工程师可以验证模型的要求。第二个要素是合同规定和语言，以支持我们流程中使用该模型的使用。第三 - 我们需要培养承包商和我们的检查人员的舒适度。”Hruby补充说，MNDOT正在“积极地解决这三个要素”。

And it’s not just a matter of finding the right technology partner and hoping for the best. There are other considerations, including ensuring that smaller contractors are still able to bid effectively, says Hruby. “One of our problems is that as we partner with the broader world of contractors, they don’t all invest in technology unless it is broadly used,” he says. This can lead to some contractors feeling left behind, and agencies need to ensure any technology adoption comes with outreach to the contracting community to ensure bidding is competitive. “We need to carry all of our partners forward,” he adds.

对于已经进行了技术投资的大型承包商，让公共机构用尽最新技术有其自身的挑战。Granite的建筑技术经理Aaron McClellan表示，为许多运输客户提供服务，包括在UDOT的数字交付计划中工作，它一直在寻求其专业知识。“我们始终尝试帮助客户从建筑立场中看到价值，以合并为他们提供价值的技术。”他认为IIJA是一个迹象，情况可能正在发生变化。“很多事情都在进行，尤其是随着该法案的批准，该法案将在短时间内允许更多资金。技术的采用将帮助[这些公共客户]跟上能够交付这些项目的潮起潮落。”18luck官网

While the public construction sector has lagged in adopting these technologies, the rest of the industry hasn’t been standing still. “These technologies have been around for a quite a while, a decade and a half—BIM, re-proceduring delivery around 3D, richer artifacts in documents—we’ve been at that capability there for a long time,” says Dustin Parkman, vice president of mobility at Bentley Systems. “What hasn’t happened is use of these technologies across the entire portfolios [public agencies] manage.”

But a combination of the funding in the IIJA and the pressing need to replace and upgrade existing infrastructure in the U.S. may be a “perfect storm” for technology adoption, he adds. “All of this creates opportunity to think differently than in the past—we can’t challenge problems with same old methods, we can’t just scale up with more skilled labor,” notes Parkman. “So technology will naturally fill that void in a lot of creative different ways … there’s [going to be] a tremendous amount of innovation in the next few years.”

同样的思考，技术公司大灯的联合创始人兼总裁Si Katara（提供用于运输项目的云文档工具）的联合创始人兼总裁Si Katara说，建筑和技术是“在甲板上全力以赴的时刻”。18luck官网Katara说，IIJA凭借其1500亿美元的酌处资金，将使公共机构能够“采用创新，流程和技术，以在未来五年内提供更大的要求。”“（现在与公共客户）的对话是‘是的，资金增加了30％至50％。’他们正在研究自己的业务如何30年，而没有人力资源。他们将如何弥合差距？通过专注于应用创新。”

乌多特（Udot）的布拉塞拉斯（Braceras）说：“我们都应该有一种紧迫感，不断地推动自己的工作更好。”“人们谈论想要稳定，恢复正常 - 我们永远不会正常。我们总是通过变革过程发展。”