The Beauty Beneath: Notable Water and Sewer Networks Recognized
The Be Inspired Awards, awarded annually at Bentley Systems’ Year in Infrastructure Conference, are something like the Academy Awards of the infrastructure world—they recognize and celebrate design and construction achievements that often go unrecognized by the very citizens whose lives are being improved by applied practical genius. As Norman Maclean said, in the context of correctly loading pack mules, “To all those who work come moments of beauty unseen by the rest of the world.” The Year...
Transforming What Was Wet and Wasted in Wayzata
Declining Mall Redeveloped to Native Wetland Conditions By James W. Tiggelaar, PE, CCS, LEED AP The city of Wayzata, Minn., on the north shore of Lake Minnetonka, is a thriving community just 12 miles west of downtown Minneapolis. The lake has been a centerpiece of the community from its start as a vacation hub, and now the city is known more for executive offices and as a regional retail center. A beach, parks and walking/biking trails are interspersed with mansions that spread f...
BIM Scores at San Jose Earthquakes’ New Stadium
Designed to provide the best possible experience for Major League Soccer fans, Avaya Stadium is among the world’s most technically and structurally advanced stadiums. By Edgar Enchano When flying into the San Jose International Airport, you can’t help but notice Avaya Stadium. Home to the San Jose Earthquakes, the $100-million, 18,000-seat stadium on Coleman Ave. rose from the dust of a long-abandoned factory adjacent to the airport. Designed to deliver a premium experience to soccer fans,...
Consider the Benefits of Mobile LiDAR for Transportation Projects
Mobile LiDAR has become an effective solution for rapid data collection in recent years. For example, using mobile LiDAR imaging, the Utah Department of Transportation recently undertook a groundbreaking inventory of numerous roadway assets. Laser scanning is helping many state agencies comply with a new federal law requiring them to digitally map the U.S. National Highway System under the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technolo...
Mobile LiDAR Proves Cost Effective for Pavement Mapping
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has used low-altitude mapping photography (LAMP), typically flown at 300 feet above mean terrain (AMT) via a helicopter, as a base for photogrammetry projects requiring high-accuracy pavement mapping and elevations. PennDOT also has been evaluating mobile light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology to determine if it could replace LAMP. Initially, the increased cost and unanswered questions regarding accuracy and control requirements...
John McAslan + Partners Uses 3D Modeling to Facilitate Design of King’s Cross Station
Built in 1852, King’s Cross railway station is one of the main transportation hubs in London. As with the rest of the United Kingdom’s rail network infrastructure, the station has struggled in recent years to manage not only increasing ridership but also providing the space and amenities commuters expect. The GBP 547 million redevelopment of King’s Cross station is at the heart of one of the largest regeneration undertakings in Europe, with 67 acres of brownfield land being redeveloped to...
Kindle Collaboration via LiDAR-Based 3-D Smart City Models
A smart city model allows many important stakeholders, including government officials, citizens and the private sector, to easily access critical infrastructure information. But most city departments, agencies and utilities have separate processes in place for long-term planning, updates and expansion as well as to support economic development–from permitting to call-before-you-dig to environmental programs and more. Each entity has different types of information that need to be available or...
Overcoming Challenging Suspension Bridge Design and Engineering
Long-span suspension bridges represent some of the most remarkable, yet most vulnerable, assets in road networks. Due to their important role in the transportation network, the design, construction, and subsequent monitoring and maintenance must be performed very accurately. During the design process, bridge designers must consider and meet many challenges, including the highly non-linear behaviour of the structure, the optimization of the geometry of suspension cables, and the effects of wind....
Robin Partington & Partners Leverages Bentley Software to Create Curvilinear Park House
Fronting Oxford Street in London’s elegant Mayfair district, where high-end shops mingle with exclusive residences and commercial buildings, Park House was developed to deliver an entire city block of prime, mixed-use space without overpowering its neighbors. Robin Partington & Partners (RPP) designed the GBP 135 million building with 8,140 square meters of retail space at basement, ground, and first-floor levels on Oxford Street; 15,140 square meters of Grade A office space on seven floors with...
Driving Through the Pouring Rain: How to Plan, Prepare and Adapt America’s Transportation Networks for Climate Change
By Lisa Dickson, PG, and Indrani Ghosh, PhD On Sept. 24, 2014, President Obama told a landmark global-warming summit that the United States stands ready to make serious commitments to tackle climate change. Earlier in the week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said that the United States must act now on climate change to avoid economic hardships that will grow from inaction. One of the many ways that climate change will impact the economy is by causing disruptions to America’s rapidly agi...