Related Links: Aconex Connected BIM PROBUILD Construction A cloud-based project-management system has added building-information-modeling management to its 2D-based workflow. Aconex has an eye on enriching models with life-cycle data by giving access and annotation capabilities to project participants via their browsers.The firm's new "Connected BIM" feature now is integrated with Autodesk Revit. Other integrations with Trimble's Tekla and Bentley's MicroStation are in development. Revit users can publish models from the design software directly into the Aconex ecosystem for management within the context of the common data environment and project collaboration workflow. As the project evolves, subcontractors can attach information about
Photo Courtesy of Bartlette Cocke/Plangrid Jobsite and office communication regarding issues and answers is synced with RFI feature. Related Links: PlanGrid RFI Workflow Navigant Construction Forum Study on RFI An app designed to automate sharing and version control of construction documents has added a new functionality and now can capture issues and generate, circulate and post requests for information (RFI) within the same application.The PlanGrid tool is a cloud server-based system that stores and manages project documents for access by tablets on the jobsite. It is used as a collaborative platform for sharing information, such as field markups, progress photos
There is a lot going on in the area of asset management that portends dramatic change in our approach to resource management in the near future—and it’s about time.The adjustments that will be required of the A/E/C/FM industry to move it to disciplined asset management systems will force it to develop new workflows and measures of value, just as the gradual embrace of building information modeling has done, but the changes are necessary and the payback will be large. The simple premise is that physical assets should be evaluated, first of all, on their contribution to desired organizational outcomes. Asset
Photo by Kevin Marino/Balfour Beatty Keith Walsh, virtual-design construction intern at Balfour Beatty, helps fellow employee Daniel Shirkey, senior process manager for traffic planning and design, navigate virtual- jobsite software, called HazYard, which Walsh helped program. Shirkey wears an Oculus Rift headset he bought after attending the second AEC Hackathon in March. Related Links: Greg Howe's Take on AEC Hackathon 1.2 AEC Hackathon: an Industry First Sponsor prizes are beginning to ensure the usability and usefulness of software developed at the architecture, engineering and construction "AEC Hackathons" now popping up around the country and, soon, abroad.For the weekend charrette, team
Related Links: Viewpoint Returns to Estimating With Platform Upgrades McGraw Hill Sells ENR and Construction Group to Equity Investor U.S. ERP Vendor Viewpoint Reels In U.K. Collaboration Service 4Projects Private-equity firms looking for opportunities in construction-industry sectors have gone from casual dating to getting downright serious with their investments. Experts say collaboration and web-based tools are their top desires.Chris Daum, president of FMI Capital Advisors, the investment banking subsidy of consulting and research firm FMI Corp., says his group has seen an "unprecedented upturn in inquiries" during the past 18 months, asking for FMI's input to look over deals in
Photo courtesy of Suyang Dong/University of Michigan SmartDig's market includes earthwork contractors looking to boost productivity in cities. Related Links: Robots on the Jobsite Advancing in Construction Bridge Builder Hooked on GPS-Guided Gantries Why are some excavators wearing what appear to be giant quick-response codes? The QR codes are not the latest e-commerce trend on construction sites but part of a research project at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, aimed at making machine controls more accurate in urban settings."It's weird," admits Suyang Dong, a researcher at the school's Laboratory for Interactive Visualization in Engineering, speaking of the strange signs.
Big data is like the Atlantic Ocean; it’s huge and deep and full of power but we know that—whatever we have done so far—we have barely touched its potential.One example of tapping the potential of big data is a service that mines and analyzes the hits generated by more than one million mobile wireless devices as they register at one cell tower after another while traveling along. The identities of the users are never known, but it doesn’t matter. It is the pattern of movements on a grand scale that tells the tale.The transportation studies the data analytics company, AirSage,
Image Courtesy of Tesla Motors Inc. The plant, to be built on a 600-acre site, is slated to be open by 2017. The Sept. 4 revelation that northern Nevada is the site for Tesla Motors' planned $5-billion lithium-ion-battery "gigafactory" sets the stage for what is likely to be a sharp drop in the cost of such batteries over the next few years, as market forces come to bear.The electric vehicles built by the Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla Motors Inc. are powered by batteries composed of thousands of the small, cylindrical, lithium-ion 18650 commodity cells such as those commonly found in
Image Courtesy Gehry Technologies Gehry Technologies' GTeam platform allows for online collaboration on BIM design documents. Image Courtesy Gehry Technologies Gehry Technologies' Digital Project is a BIM design and management suite. Related Links: Trimble Steps Into Facilities Management With Manhattan Software Acquisition Trimble Buys Crane-Safety Instrumentation Company Show Me the Money: 5D-Cost Estimating Tools Taking Off Gehry Forms Alliance of Architects To Promote Technological Integration Gehry Tech Launches Latest BIM Collaboration Tool Q&A: Over the Horizon with Dennis Shelden, Gehry Technologies In the latest of a string of high-profile acquisitions, Trimble, Sunnyvale, Calif., announced Sept. 8 it has acquired Los
Estimators have never had it easy in the rough-and-tumble world of construction cost estimating—especially when using traditional 2D files or drawings for quantity takeoffs and cost estimates.
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