Latin America. Colombia began the year with unfortunate news regarding the collapse of the bridge that was being built on the Bogotá-Villavicencio road. Every year, in the countries of Latin America and the world, this type of incident occurs, which has to do with infrastructures that do not follow the security protocols on foot to avoid them.
The BIM Building Information Modeling methodology has begun to revolutionize all the architecture, design and construction industries in Colombia, not only because it makes construction work more efficient and less expensive, but precisely because it helps prevent incidents and save lives.
BIM consists of the modeling and design of architectural projects, facilities, civil works and infrastructure in the following dimensions: visualize and understand the context in which it will be executed, integrate information from specifications, costs and time to virtually solve situations that may arise on site, have greater control and planning of our construction projects, with a vision of "Build before building".
Cost overruns in construction, changes due to errors and omissions, as well as lag in execution deadlines are a constant problem within the sector and this is the reason why users are discovering the value of BIM. Along with this adoption, the fundamental point within BIM uses has been found, which is to guarantee safety within a construction project.
Achieving this assurance through different actions that emerge from the correct adoption of the methodology, an example would be the ease of positioning the project in a real context and reviewing the impact it will have on the existing infrastructure. Engineers and architects can use the model to coordinate work and activities to be carried out on site, plan construction logistics for the correct movement and placement of machinery, delimitation of risk areas and maneuvers.
The use of new construction trends is facilitated and goes hand in hand thanks to the adoption of BIM, technologies that are revolutionizing the world of construction such as the use of drones to obtain and collect data, reaching places previously inaccessible to a person, the automation of work machinery thanks to LIDAR technology, establishing predefined routes for an excavator for example, with the required excavation parameters, in which construction personnel no longer have to be involved and interfere with the natural movements of the machinery. Even BIM helps us to map, thanks to laser scans and surveys, all the ground, air and induced works infrastructure to avoid, for example, drilling any pipe that may involve a greater risk, and at the same time program the machinery to have a millimeter precision.
Another benefit of BIM in relation to safety is that it provides logistics for detours and traffic opening, simulates the conditions of access roads and traffic of construction machinery to avoid possible road accidents. Regarding the optimization of the design of infrastructure works and structural calculation, BIM ensures that structural elements do not fail during construction or even at a later stage, thanks to the structural calculation, analysis and simulation of different elements, ensuring that the construction process is adequate, since virtually the real load conditions are simulated throughout the life cycle of the project.
As BIM is a method that makes construction processes efficient and improves operational margins, safety on site is guaranteed, as it is a direct consequence of the correct planning of processes and visualization of factors that can affect the project, achieving a greater understanding of the interaction of our work with that of the existing environment.
By Mauricio Irastorza, Autodesk Infrastructure and Construction Technical Specialist
