Challenge
Bane NOR is the Norwegian state enterprise in charge of operations, maintenance and construction of national railways. They have an annual budget of >2.5 BEUR, >4500 employees, >4000 kilometers, thousands of bridges and tunnels, and hundreds of stations in their portfolio. And >40 large development projects ongoing at any point in time. One of these was the project Nygårdstangen Bergen-Fløen (abbreviated “NBF”), whose objective was to upgrade the Nygårdstangen freight terminal to double capacity and to expand the railroad capacity between Bergen city center and Fløen from single to double track, to enable passenger trains every 15 minutes throughout the day. See areal visual of project in Figure 1. Bane NOR had engaged COWI as engineering consultant on the project in addition to Baneservice as the main contractor, Vassbakk & Stol (Skanska subsidiary) for the groundworks, and Hitachi Rail GTS (previously Thales) for signaling.
Bane NOR had previously run successful pilot projects using BIM, Virtual Design & Construction[1] and model-based construction but lacked a structured approach, methodology, and digital tooling for this new type of projects, incl. ownership of data, requirements for information flow and objects, many different systems and formats in use. Although Bane NOR had been requiring and using BIM on projects for >10 years, they still had room to grow in adopting BIM at scale: use of the federated BIM model was typically limited to a smaller set of expert users, requiring software licenses and expensive laptop hardware to run desktop 3D design review software, and not directly accessible in the field. Model insights were shared via screenshots, which was suboptimal in curbing the receiver’s ability to interact directly with the model. And moreover, Bane NOR experienced issues with file revisions not consistently propagating to all devices leading to errors from old versions still in use on devices in the field. Lastly, Bane NOR was looking to standardize its approach to BIM and wanted to pilot ISO 19650 for that very purpose.
[1] Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) is a methodology used in the construction industry to manage and coordinate the integrated design, construction, and operations of a building project through digital 3D models. Importantly, VDC utilizes BIM models as a key part of its broader approach to managing the entire building lifecycle. While BIM is focused on creating and handling the building data, VDC is concerned with using that data to improve the overall performance of the project.
Solution
Bane NOR implemented methods from Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) and applied ISO 19650 standards in the project, with Novorender serving as both the unified 3D visualization tool and the Project Information Model (PIM), both in engineering and in the field. See Figure 2 for the ISO 19650 information model framework and Figure 3 for Bane NOR’s implementation of these concepts in the NBP project in terms of systems and information flow. As the PIM, Novorender functioned as the viewer and integrator of all 3D models and associated data within the project. The combination of these measures greatly helped improve collaboration and alignment in the project, and ultimately helped drive adoption of BIM and model-based construction. The project team was able to:
*Have one federated viewer for all project disciplines and used this in weekly multidisciplinary planning meetings to review progress and resolve roadblocks (ICE: Integrated Concurrent Engineering – a methodology from Virtual Design Construction). See Figure 4 for picture of ICE meeting supported by 3D model on central screen and Figure 5 and 6 for Novorender used as federated model.
*Track issues directly in the 3D model via the integration with Jira with assignment of responsibility, due dates, and tracking
*Perform geometrical control including especially within drainage and plumbing for placement of manholes and pipes
*Integrate periodical drone photos in the 3D model to enable coordination of complex activities between different disciplines e.g., ensure optimal cabling in parallel with ditch excavation
*Reflected completion status on objects with Model Maturity Index (MMI) status including feedback from commission system (Omega 365)
*Adopt the federated BIM-model in the field enabled by Novorender’s support for quick and easy access on mobile devices (see Figure 7) – including among contractor and subcontractors.
Novorender streamlines our infrastructure projects by enabling seamless coordination and communication among stakeholders. Its versatility and accessibility make it an indispensable asset, improving project outcomes for everyone, anywhere and anytime.
Helene Foldnes Skage, BIM Coordinator Bane NOR
The VDC methodology, along with Novorender for 3D visualization, was introduced six months into the NBF project. And all project parties demonstrated remarkable flexibility and agility in adapting to this change, making concerted efforts to implement VDC and learning to use the new tool effectively.
Results
The NBF project successfully established a ‘single source of truth’ in line with ISO 19650 standards, utilizing its Common Data Environment (CDE) and Project Information Model (PIM) concepts via Novorender. By making this information easily accessible to all project team members, including those in the field, multidisciplinary collaboration significantly improved, leading to game-changing results for the project:
*Improved BIM adoption by 5x (from ~20 users of consolidated BIM model to >100 users incl. users in the field), a crucial enabler for succeeding with model-based construction
*Reduced railroad track closure period from 6 months to 8 weeks, greatly reducing the burden on the local community
*Reduced construction time by >30% (from an estimated 4 years to 2.5 years)
*Reduced construction costs by ≥200 vs. budget
*A proof point of successfully piloting a project implementing ISO 19650 standards and a Project Information Model (PIM)
By integrating 3D visualizations from Novorender into our multidisciplinary planning meetings (ICE), we were able to catch and correct much more errors before the actual construction would run into the problem.
Eivind Farestveit Larsen, Head Project Manager, Bane NOR
While the NBF project achieved remarkable success in its key outcomes, it was not without its challenges. Important lessons learned included the need to fully define software requirements from the project outset, the importance of investing in digital training and support to drive adoption, and the necessity of closing the loop to operations and maintenance by fully integrating the BIM model with commissioning systems (Omega 365) to enable systematic completion directly within the BIM model (“systematisk ferdigstillelse”).
«Making the 3D available to all users via Novorender was critical for our ability to successfully carry out this project model based. Thanks to a fast and intuitive user interface, we were able to quickly adopt the tool in the field and eliminate the use of near all 2D drawings
Sophie Hafner, BIM Coordinator at Vassbakk & Stol
Sources:
https://www.jernbanedirektoratet.no/jernbanemagasinet/nytt-dobbeltspor-bergen-arna-apnet/
https://www.nrk.no/vestland/dobbeltsporet-mellom-arna-og-bergen-ble-ferdig-lenge-for-1.16882679
https://www.cowi.com/news-and-press/news/2024/en-milepael-for-jernbanesatsingen-paa-vestlandet
https://www.jernbanedirektoratet.no/jernbanemagasinet/heftig-puslespill-i-bergen/
