BIM modelling of underground structures in the design and operation phases. What can we expect?

Abstract

The use of BIM (Building Information Modelling) is growing rapidly in the field of infrastructures. The CETU carried out an experiment consisting in modelling two underground structures as fully as possible in order to check whether the expectations stemming from business uses can be correctly dealt with. The first tunnel, at the design stage, made it possible to question the benefits of BIM in terms of project management, to process the civil engineering and equipment interfaces, the clearance and the representation of the geology, hydrogeology and geotechnics. The second tunnel, in the operation phase, dealt with issues relating to asset management, retro engineering based on points cloud and the reporting of inspections and defects on civil engineering and equipment.