Abstract
Building information modelling (BIM) is defined as a process involving the generation and management of digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. The purpose of interoperability in integrated or “open” BIM is to facilitate the information exchange between different digital systems, models and tools. There has been effort towards data interoperability with development of open source standards and object-oriented models, such as industry foundation classes (IFC) for vertical infrastructure. However, the lack of open data standards for the information exchange for horizontal infrastructure limits the adoption and effectiveness of integrated BIM. The paper outlines two interoperability issues for construction of rail infrastructure. The issues are presented in two case study reports, one from Australia and one from Malaysia. The each case study includes: a description of the project, the application of BIM in the project, a discussion of the promised BIM interoperability solution plus the identification of the unresolved lack of interoperability for horizontal infrastructure project management. The Moreton Bay Rail project in Australia introduces general software interoperability issues. The Light Rail Extension project in Kuala Lumpur outlines an example of the integration problems related to two different location data structures. The paper highlights how the continuing lack of data interoperability limits utilisation of integrated BIM for horizontal infrastructure rail projects.
Highlights
According to The Business Value of building information modelling (BIM) for Construction in Major Global Markets, SmartMarket Report [1], an increasing number of construction organisations globally are realizing the advantages of digital construction modelling
Development of “open BIM” to facilitate integrated construction management does seem to have made some headway in construction of vertical infrastructure
This paper provides two case studies discussing adoption of digital information exchange technology for rail construction
Summary
According to The Business Value of BIM for Construction in Major Global Markets, SmartMarket Report [1], an increasing number of construction organisations globally are realizing the advantages of digital construction modelling. The cumulative effort and improvements of computer aided design (CAD) in the construction industry has resulted in increasing adoption of a promising technology, building information modelling (BIM). The balance of this paper outlines two interoperability issues for construction of rail infrastructure. Each case study includes: a description of the project, the application of BIM in the project, a discussion of the promised BIM interoperability and identification of the unresolved lack of interoperability for the particular rail infrastructure project. The main sources of our findings included the website of the projects, several journal articles, industry reports and a university thesis
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