N2 REALIGNMENT UMHLALI BRIDGE TO UMVOTI BRIDGE N aidu Consulting's emphasis on value engineering ensures that innovation is continually introduced
achieving the required minimum design criteria for the proposed design speed. While the scope of works for the construction of the road did not deviate from the conventional construction methods, the project was viewed as a great opportunity to showcase the innovations present in the industry by delivering the project Construction and Close-out phase through “Digitisation”. The digitisation of the project was implemented through BIM 360 solution, which is a cloud based Common Data Environment (CDE) that allows paperless workflows. A 4D BIM model is a 3D geometric model of the road which is further advanced by linking it to a Construction Programme, thereby giving a real time visual simulation of the scheduling and sequencing of the construction activities on site. The 4D model is then uploaded to the Common Data Environment (CDE) BIM 360 platform where more data is linked to it. This data is managed through data collection templates that include inspection checklists, quality control checklists, and product/material specifications, which are georeferenced as pins in the model. All this information, once linked to the model, completes the 4D BIM Model. This model can be used and accessed at any given time by the asset owner to get a visual representation of the asset – confirming that the asset has been built to specifications, access to specifications and quality control data within the 4D model by just a click of the button. This easily accessed 4D BIM model makes it easy for the asset owner to plan and carry out maintenance in the future.
to improve efficiency, enhance productivity and service quality through all its projects. The design improvements resulted in the realignment of horizontal curves north of the Umhlali and the Umvoti River Bridges and the construction of the pavement structure to match the existing concrete pavement structure and lane configuration. The realignment of the N2/27 at the Umhlali and Umvoti river bridges boasts as the first road infrastructure project in South Africa to be implemented on the BIM 360 platform in 4D illustration. The software that was utilised to achieve the 4D Model were, Civil 3D, Navisworks, Microsoft Projects and BIM 360. The success of BIM required the Client’s support as well as commitment from both the engineer’s and contractor’s supervision teams leading to a collaborative production of project information. The project team for this project comprised SANRAL (Employer), Naidu Consulting (Consulting Engineers) and Raubex (Contractor). Numerous design options were investigated for the realignment of the existing horizontal curves north of the Umhlali and Umvoti Bridges. Different combinations of curve radii, curve lengths and superelevation rates were investigated in order to achieve a 120 km/h design speed. However, each combination resulted in the superelevation development occurring within the bridge and as a result the existing bridge parapets would require re-construction. Transition curves were introduced as part of the design in order to contain the superelevation development within the transition length thereby limiting the change of the finished road levels to outside of the bridge extents. The introduction of transitions curves resulted in the superelevation development taking place outside of the bridge. Therefore, eliminating the need to re- construct the existing bridge parapets. This proved to be the more feasible and economical solutions without compromising the safety of the road users while still
PROJECT INFORMATION
• Company entering: Naidu Consulting • Client: SANRAL • Start date: March 2020 • End date: 13 October 2021 • Main Contractor: Raubex KZN • Principal Agent: Naidu Consulting • Project Manager: SANRAL • Consulting Engineer: Naidu Consulting
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21 st Best Project Awards 2022
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