Larsen & Toubro have advanced BIM for rail on the second phase of India’s Western Dedicated Freight Corridor
The second phase of India’s Western Dedicated Freight Corridor is under construction to meet the growing demand for freight services in the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
Location: Haryana, India
Sector: Rail and transit
Project team: Larsen & Toubro, Transportation Infrastructure IC
Freight corridor plan
The project will reduce the unit cost of transportation and quadruple the current average freight speed from 20km an hour, introducing timetabled freight services and tripling container capacity from 5,000 to 15,000 tonnes.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) is constructing Package CTP-14, a 128km corridor between Rewari to Dadri passing through the regions of Rewari-Alwar-Mewat-Gurgaon-Palwal-Faridabad-GB Nagar.
Since the adoption of BIM methodologies in rail in India is still in its infancy, and in light of significant increases in government expenditure in infrastructure, L&T realised its success on the project could be a game-changer.
Using a multidiscipline portfolio of Bentley applications, L&T was able to conceptualise, design and construct the project in a timely manner, leveraging BIM methodologies to share information across the different disciplines involved in the design, delivery and maintenance of physical assets along the railway.
In its work, L&T faced many environmental and technical challenges, including difficult and inaccessible terrain, ground stability concerns in areas of deep cut and high embankments, and optimising horizontal and vertical alignments to reduce earthworks.
In a critical section laying within a sensitive ecological zone of the Aravalli Hills in the northern part of India, the route crosses terrain requiring a vertical alignment with a maximum cut depth of 25m to 30m, plus a viaduct and tunnel.
L&T explored two route options using OpenRail ConceptStation and leveraged reality modelling with ContextCapture using drone surveys to gain a comprehensive appreciation of the surrounding terrain and infrastructure and to visualise the potential challenges it could encounter during construction.
Design of the project
As detail design progressed, the dynamic interface of OpenRail Designer allowed team members to compare different scenarios to help simplify logistics, reduce cost and create a safe environment for site personnel during construction.
While asset tagging in OpenBuildings Designer afforded the team a smooth and consistent interface between design and site operations, LumenRT ensured the integration of lifelike animations. These animations helped personnel with non-engineering backgrounds to understand the scope of works and how the project might impact them.
At all times and throughout the different stages of the project, Bentley applications helped L&T to reduce costs and optimise its resources – machinery, materials, and manpower – as well as provide a better understanding to stakeholders and achieve greater client satisfaction.
“Bentley software helped L&T achieve its vision of digitalisation and implementation of BIM to enable designers, planners and implementers to use a single repository for the free flow of accurate information and a collaborative way of working through the process of designing, delivering and maintaining physical assets,” said Nikhil Jose, assistant engineering manager – civil with L&T.
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