Banedanmark Aims to Deliver Denmark’s First High-Speed Line On-time and On-budget Using Smart Technology

The Danish Parliament passed an act approving the construction of a new dual track, electrified railway running from Copenhagen to Ringsted via Køge, Denmark. Capable of handling passenger train speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour, the new line will be Denmark’s first high speed railway, and its largest rail project for many years. Responsibility for establishing the 60-kilometer line, which will include four tunnels, 88 bridges, and require the expropriation of around 290 hectares of land, fell to Banedanmark, Denmark’s national rail owner-operator. Its stated aim was to construct the line on time and within budget, setting a best-in-class example for all European rail projects, in a competitive market, using state-of-the-art technology. Construction of the new line commenced back in 2012 with completion scheduled for late 2018.

The Banedanmark team used an extensive list of Bentley software on the project including:

Ø  ProjectWise, which helped ensure data could be shared between all parties involved across 20 different contracts on the project. The connected data environment provided by ProjectWise was split into pre-tender, post-tender, and as-built information, ensuring that only the right users had access to information relevant to their organization, contract, and role. This well-coordinated process resulted in contract costs that were 9.3 percent lower than estimated, and an overall budget saving for Banedanmark of 10 to 15 percent.

Ø  MicroStation, chosen to ensure that all project information could be visualized within a comprehensive modeling environment. The flexibility offered by the DGN format and tools within MicroStation made it possible for the team to combine data generated using Bentley applications and third-party software for tasks including consistency and clash control, creation of multi-discipline sections or hypermodels, quantity takeoffs, quality checks, and high resolution visualizations and animations.

Ø  Bentley Rail Track, used to create 3D models of the minimum infrastructure gauge. Built-in Danish design standards and validation enabled Banedanmark to create models and animations approximately 10 times faster than using other techniques.

Ø  PowerCivil for Sweden, which enable the team to easily extract earthworks volumes. The 3D models were then used by the contractors for machine control, increasing the accuracy and speed of works. Finally, mapping functionality within PowerCivil for Sweden made it possible to exchange data with ArcGIS, Banedanmark’s GIS in operations and maintenance.

As a result of its achievements on the Copenhagen – Ringsted project, Banedanmark implemented a strategic project called The Digital Railway of Future. The project’s mission is to look at implementing the same methods and requirements on all construction projects in the future, and to explore the potential for using models and intelligent data generated during design and construction within asset management, implementing a whole lifecycle approach to BIM.

Gita Mohshizadeh, CAD manager, Banedanmark, said, “Bentley’s commitment to providing the tools necessary to support the whole lifecycle of assets and interoperability with other design and construction software means that Banedanmark’s project information is usable, well-coordinated, and well-documented.”