Bluebeam software has played a key role in boosting efficiency on an award-winning bus station construction project in Wales
One of Wales’ busiest bus stations had seen better days. Built in the 1960s, it was dilapidated, fell far below Equality Act standards and had become a focus of anti-social behaviour. Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (MTCBC) envisioned a new, state-of-the-art facility next to the railway station that would be a modern, high-quality transport hub.
The team created an iconic 14-bay bus interchange to reflect both legacy and future. Funded in part by a Welsh government initiative to make public transport electric by 2028, MTCBC put social value and sustainability at the core of the project.
MTCBC found Bluebeam software fostered clear, fast communication between its internal teams, builder Morgan Sindall and architect Capita, leading to successful collaboration on sustainable initiatives.
Bluebeam allowed the team to communicate five times faster. Tasks that would usually take a week took only a day. Bluebeam was part of the standard toolkit for both businesses, so the entire team, including many of the subcontractors, used it throughout the project. This helped with the management of change, as there was a single source of the most up-to-date information at any one time.
The flexibility of Bluebeam’s Design Review, Quantity and Estimation tools meant the team could adapt to this change more easily. Quantity and estimating processes were at least 80% faster, Morgan Sindall said.
Benefits of Bluebeam on recent construction project in Wales
- Five times more productive thanks to digital collaboration; discussions that would’ve taken five days took one.
- 50% faster design team processes and 80% time- savings on quantity takeoffs and estimations.
- Overlay function was an invaluable way to compare plans, quickly spot design differences and communicate updates when plans changed.
- Markups and the Markup List allowed the project planner to schedule work quickly and easily.
- Thanks to strong collaboration, the team finished on time despite Covid-19.
- The bus interchange went on to win three national awards.
Bluebeam makes it possible to adapt construction projects
Staying on the same page when faced with disruption and change is a crucial part of any construction project. Spanning more than six years, the Merthyr Tydfil bus interchange plans arguably changed more than most.
Alun Evans, strategic infrastructure programme manager for MTCBC, found Bluebeam’s software to be of “great assistance” in supporting communication, providing timely updates and boosting project efficiency. With numerous stakeholders, including 10 Cardiff Capital Regional Transport Authority local partners, effective collaboration was essential.
Bluebeam’s clarity and simplicity allowed this team to flourish. It worked more efficiently and opted for collaboration over confrontation. This meant that the team pushed to exceed the expectations of the brief, making choices that would benefit both the local economy and environment.
Building sustainably
When the project started in 2015, sustainable principles weren’t an essential feature of the brief. But midway through the project, the Welsh government set ambitious targets for the electrification of public transport by 2028.
The bus interchange is Wales’ first with ULEV charging for both buses and taxis. The team didn’t just introduce technology to allow the future electrification of local public transport but also the electrification of the interchange building itself.
MTCBC’s new sustainable vision changed the energy performance certificate from a D to a B. All parties, including contractors and subcontractors, came together to chase this goal and motivate one another. The result is a transport interchange that is 100% fossil-free and fit for the 21st century.
Circular economy
To minimise transport to site, the team sourced materials from nearby places, even if they came at a premium cost. The team also went a step further by employing local suppliers and tradespeople to best benefit the local economy and people who worked and lived in the area. More than 95% of the supply chain businesses used in the construction phase were based within 25 miles of the site.
Design flexibility
Bluebeam’s Design Review came into its own. It allowed the project partners to mark up and collaborate on the same documents in real time or remotely, meaning the team could communicate project data better, with customised, in-depth annotations.
The team found Design Review and Markups simplified and sped up the review process, enabling the teams to overlay plans and clearly compare, communicate and document changes.
“Historically you’d be scribbling on a drawing and trying to scan it, or doing markups on Paint,” Williams said. “It gets lost in translation.”
Sustainable construction project in Wales
The new sustainable bus interchange is a striking, functional building well suited to the modern world. Evans said its “successful delivery to such a high specification is a game changer for Merthyr Tydfil”. Community feedback so far has been fantastic, even with the challenge of increasing public transport usage during the pandemic.
Bluebeam, Inc
*Please note: This is a commercial profile
