Construction company Atkins has been awarded a four year contract to provide BIM services for the High-speed rail project
Under the four year contract, UK-based construction company Atkins will provide building information modelling (BIM) technical services. The company will provide professional support, assisting with the planning and delivery of BIM educational and assessment tools for the supply chain, as well as ensuring efficiency in asset management.
Director Mark Roberts said: “Adoption of BIM will revolutionise programmes like HS2, materially improving delivery efficiency and success, and embedding an approach that looks beyond design and construction into the requirements and benefits for the whole operational life of the railway.”
By 2016, all major government projects will be expected to utilise BIM Level 2. This is designed to ensure there is a shared data environment throughout the supply chain. Information relating to design should be shared through a common file format, which enables any organisation to add their own data to existing information to create a federated BIM model.
The implementation of BIM Level 2 aims to reduce waste in construction by 20 per cent and improve efficiency. In the future it is hoped the private sector will also adopt this collaborative approach.
Last year, HS2 published a study examining the status of BIM readiness within the supply chain. It found there was an increased awareness of the system, but found there were some inconsistency in the way companies understand data and classification systems.
Work is now being undertaken to develop a collaborative approach in a bid to develop digital skills and knowledge in the design, construction and civil engineering industries.
