Digital Construction Project of the Year
Balfour Beatty
Midland Metropolitan University Hospital
We’ve delivered an exceptional digital solution to manage project delivery performance as part of our DigitalByDesign Strategy. Through this innovative digital solution, we achieved unparalleled technical collaboration, successfully managing project completion and establishing the golden thread for a complex hospital project.
At MMUH, we revolutionised software utilisation, unlocking opportunities for Balfour Beatty and advancing our digital transformation. Importantly, we’ve embedded this digital expertise in early stages on other projects, exemplified by AWE project, Gatwick Airport, HS2 Head Houses, UoS West Slope, setting a new standard for project delivery performance and affirming our commitment to digital excellence in the construction industry.
Our carefully selected digital applications portfolio has been serving the project for all of it's operations from the start, over last year the focus has been on commissioning and handover management. We have also been exploring the use of AI to drive insights from the project data.
GRAHAM
The Clyde Waterfront regeneration scheme
The Clyde Waterfront regeneration scheme involves constructing a 184-meter opening road bridge over the River Clyde at Renfrew, connecting to the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS). This two-lane bridge will serve vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists.
The project includes new walking and cycling routes through Renfrew, linking to Yoker train station and the national cycling network. By leveraging Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), the project reduced its duration by 50%. GRAHAM implemented biometric software for real-time site monitoring, improving labour data tracking and saving time. A sophisticated Building Information Modelling (BIM) ensured a coordinated digital design, federating 40 separate models and automating information delivery. Drones were used for environmental and logistical surveys, enhancing accuracy and safety.
The digital model facilitated 4D simulations and animations for stakeholder engagement, with 84 stakeholders trained on its applications.
Method Grid
The Digital PACE Framework with Network Rail
Method Grid and Network Rail collaborated to build the Digital PACE Framework to improve how Network Rail delivers projects. This easy to access digital resource is now publicly available (as of January 2024) to all rail project management professionals in the UK.
This use of technology stands out because it has radically enabled the entire UK rail industry to collaborate effectively in the delivery of their ambitious construction investment plan (£43.1bn; CP7). It was also a vanguard digital innovation for other UK public bodies facing the comparable challenge of harnessing technology to ‘force multiply’ all actors across a construction supply chain.
Mott MacDonald Bentley
Wark sewage treatment works
Working alongside other strategic partners on the Client’s framework, MMB has introduced new processes for design acceptance and build creating a way of carrying out design acceptance and construction using only the 3D model. . They utilise intelligent P&IDs, piping, and instrumentation diagrams.
These intelligent P&IDs streamline schedule creation, reducing the need for cross-checking. Although the client currently doesn’t fully appreciate the intelligence in the handover, ongoing collaboration aims to enhance their digital understanding. By gaining design acceptance through models and eliminating 2D drawings, MMB has reduced design time and costs.
The approach is now becoming standard practice for MMB, benefiting both the client and future projects.
Network Rail
AVA
AVA is the largest and possibly the only footbridge on the GB rail network that consists almost entirely of stainless steel. In addition, the design for manufacturing principles and the modern methods of construction implemented mean that it is now possible to produce the parts for a large number of footbridges much quicker than if fabricating conventional footbridges and therefore the benefits from economies of scale and the decoupling of the manufacturing stage from the project critical path are much greater.
The extensive use of digitalisation and technology in the materials as well as all the processes and operations during the project’s development stages can revolutionise the way footbridges are commissioned in a way similar to the one the introduction of the assembly line and the Ford Model-T achieved in the automotive industry in the early 20th century.