Sweco Nederland, B.V. / bergen's light rail extension
bergen, norway
Light rail system for urban development
Bergen, a growing city in Norway and gateway to the fjords, is extending its Bybanen light rail system to provide an optimal public transport solution that will facilitate urban development. The new NOK 6.2 billion, 9-kilometer integrated rail line features eight new stops, including a stopping place and depot situated underground, and two new tunnels. Sweco Nederland (Sweco NL) designed a railway that connects with existing city infrastructure. Faced with mountainous terrain, a limited footprint, and coordination and integration challenges, Sweco NL required an open digital solution to streamline workflows and accommodate the accelerated schedule.
Facts
- With approximately 40,000 to 50,000 travelers daily, the light rail extension is expected to reduce pollution and be a driving force for urban development and transformation for Bergen’s suburbs.
- Sweco NL advanced BIM through the use of digital twins to track and manage change and reduce construction errors by 25%.
- Based on the successful pilot of iTwin Design Review for the Bergen Light Rail extension, Sweco NL estimates to save EUR 1.5 million annually on projects of similar size and is embracing digital twins for future engineering initiatives.
- Using Bentley’s digital applications in a connected data environment to create 3D models streamlined engineering workflows and improved productivity.
“Bentley’s solution has enabled Sweco NL to engineer the extension of Bergen’s Light Rail system ‘right first time,’ and as a result make significant time and cost savings on this complex project.”
– Christiaan Post, Consultant – BIM Manager, Sweco Nederland B.V.
Solution
The project team established an open, connected data environment to share and manage information among the 18 different engineering disciplines spread across five countries. The project team recognized the large project scale and complexities of data integration, alignment, change management, collaboration and communication required a new digital approach. The project team piloted Bentley’s iTwin Services to create and visualize a 4D digital twin of the Bergen Light Rail.
Significant time and cost savings for complex projects
Sweco NL piloted Bentley’s open digital twin solution to enable ‘right-first-time’ engineering. This practice cut the project time by 15% and reduced costs associated with potential construction errors by 25%. Integrating multisourced data in a digital twin environment streamlined collaboration, saving an estimated 300 hours per week. By developing scripts to automate and standardize design, the team saved approximately 500 resource hours, or an estimated NOK 500,000. Implementing a connected data environment allowed for sharing and coordinating over 60,000 documents and over 450 models. Leveraging Bentley’s digital modeling applications in a connected data environment provided trusted data and facilitated seamless integration of the multiple disciplines and multiple vendors in multiple locations, enabling timely project delivery.
Software
OpenRail Designer
As an early adopter of Bentley’s iTwin Design Review, Sweco NL effectively integrated multisourced data and optimized change management, coordination, and communication across 24 different contracts through 3D and 4D visualization of its digital twin. OpenRail Designer saved time by creating over 30 different intelligent templates for track alignments, plans, and profiles.
OpenBuildings Designer
The team leveraged the track alignments in OpenBuildings Designer, creating scripts that helped automate the placement of line-wide equipment, including sleepers and drainage boxes. Working in the connected data environment powered by ProjectWise provided timely access to accurate and trusted data across a diverse and distributed project team.
