Building Information Modeling - 38

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION VDC Technology a Boon to Meadowlands Stadium Project Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) was used extensively during construction of the New Meadowlands Stadium. By Skanska USA Building The c onstruction of the N ew Meadowlands Stadium is one of the most c omplicated assig nments. Although it is a h uge stadium pr oject, the area for materials storage is very limited and the qualit y r equirements and completion date are critical. “Using new t echnology such as Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) has definitely been crucial for us in managing this project. Without this solution, including RFID (Radio F requency I dentification) supply c hain management, we w ouldn’t have been where we are today,” says Albert Zulps, Regional VDC Director, AIA and LEED® AP at Skanska USA Building. Currently, the $998 million pr oject is clearly ahead of schedule in par t due t o innovations lik e r eal time RFID supply chain management of precast concrete elements. The hig her qualit y c ontrol and carefully planned e xecution, enabled b y VDC, has r esulted in sig nificantly lo wer material wast e and tig ht sc hedule adherence. The e xtensive use of RFID tag s, installed on every precast concrete element that makes up the 82,000-spectat or stadium, is a suc cess. The solution was found during a visit to Skanska in Finland, which has been a pioneer in using this technique. The small tag s are installed on the pr ecast concrete stadia seating elements at the point of manufacture. They ar e then linked to an online database and a B uilding Information model (BIM) using an RFID pen scanner w ith Bluet ooth t echnology and a tablet PC, which is sync hronized to the online database. These tags allow the progress of the installation of these materials to be tracked and monitored from fabrication, inspection ar rival t o the st orage area of the project to final destination and installation as part of the stadium. RFID pr ovides the pr oject t eam w ith total control over the logistics of handling the approximately 3,200 elements of precast stadia. This significantly reduces the risk for installing the elements inc orrectly. It also aids in understanding the available supply of pieces for stag ing and planning purposes, and t racking the c orrection of any er rors or man ufacturer and installation defects. VDC is e xtensively used at the N ew Meadowlands Stadium. With inspir ation from Barts and the London hospital pr oject in the UK and assistance from Skanska Sweden’s design team in India, 2D design has been turned into detailed 3D drawings and models. These models ar e integrated with 3D subc ontractor MEP shop dr awings and st ructural steel shop dr awings to facilitate coordination, simulate the building c onstruction and unc over discr epancies befor e the y pr esent pr oblems in the field. The drawing set is easily accessible through PC-tablets - the pr oject team can now rely on fully updated drawings onsite. 3D Visualization i s a c omponent o f VDC, enhancing communication between the owner and project team members. For example, animations of the site work phasing w ere cr eated fr om models, drawings and aerial photographs to communicate to the owner and author ities how the c omplex site work is being phased. This solution helps to avoid potentially challenging situations - pr oject staff can see wher e cranes should be positioned at different times t o be most efficient, and the y can determine in advance if pipes and ducts would clash each other. “VDC, including RFID ha ve definit ely contributed a lot t o our success. Today it’s used in the most ad vanced pr ojects, tomorrow it will be standard,” says Zulps. 38 BIM

Building Information Modeling

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