What is virtual construction?

- Just like the design team can gain from a true virtual three-dimensional design, the construction team can realize some of the same advantages and perhaps even a few more. Any three dimensional image is just going to be easier for most people to process and understand. Viewing the assembly that needs to be constructed in 3D can really help the installers understand how things go together, and how assemblies from different trades interface with one another. Stepping things up a notch though, we can use 4D BIM, which adds that time element. And then we can step through the model using that time element to build the project virtually. Before anyone sets foot on the actual job site. There are many advantages here. Even without that time element, you can certainly see things like clashes. Where the actual product or assembly isn't going to fit in the intended space. But with that time element, we can see all sorts of additional things. From a scheduling and productivity standpoint, we can walk through the construction of a building or a structure, in the sequence in which it will actually occur. We can see potential site access problems. We can see errors in the schedule. Where the trades might be scheduled out of sequence or on top of one another. We can add resources to the model like construction cranes and place them in the schedule and on the model where they will be in real life to view accessibility issues. And see how the crane placement will affect movement around the job site or interaction with the general public. I can create staging and laydown areas in the model. And show material in these spaces until it's used up on the project. And show the site work like landscaping and parking areas. To see how it will all come together over time and identify any conflicts before they affect the schedule. From a safety standpoint, if I add that time element and I walk through the construction of the project, I can identify areas of the project that could be safety concerns. And address them before the concern is ever even built. This could include things like enclosing a space too early and creating a confined space condition. Or I might be able to see a fall hazard that will end up being present as the job progresses. And then I can alter the schedule or assign one of the trades to address the future issue in their scope of work before it ever even occurs on the job. Don't get me wrong. None of this comes without some effort. On a project designated as 3D BIM with level two adoption for example, you would have to allocate additional resources beyond what's required by the owner's contract to add that time element and move it to 4D BIM. And that certainly comes with a cost. However many construction companies are finding that the benefits and savings can outweigh those costs. Again, it may not be for every project. Construction of a warehouse or a big box store may be simple and may not see enough benefits to constructing it virtually first. But a hospital or a lab, or even some of today's complex office buildings or mixed use facilities may be complicated enough to see real benefits from using the building information model to construct the project virtually. And catch and correct all those issues before anyone even sets foot in the field. Even when the overall project itself may not seem that complicated. Some of the assemblies in that building may be complex. And constructing a virtual 3D model in advance can help trade contractors really visualize the assemblies. - Well now these younger generation of ironworkers come up. They're used to technology. And now we're getting them to look at that 3D model before we even fabricate the rebar, before we're even out on the job site. Now they're looking at it. They're seeing what it looks like. They're starting to formulate a game plan in their mind of how am I going to to place this rebar? In what order am I going to place this rebar? 'Cause that's one of the biggest thing an ironworker has to figure out. Is you layer rebar. It stacks on each other. So it's very important that you have that layering done correctly. When you're meeting beams with columns, you to figure out how that's all going to go together before you start installing the rebar. And they look for problems You know, how am I going to support this rebar while I'm placing it in the structure? So we're using it as a pre-planning tool. And that saved a tremendous amount of time, errors, frustration. You know 'cause it's a frustrating business at times if you don't know exactly how it's going to go in. So doing that 3D model, it's exceeded my expectations of what the benefits are. And you know, it really helps educate everybody what this thing's going to look like. How are we going to build it. And are there any problems? Problems become very obvious. - As we progress through these discussions, you can probably start to understand why we are hearing the term VDC. Or virtual design and construction, used more and more throughout our industry.