Exciting Civil Engineering Innovations

What a time it is to be going into the field of Civil Engineering! Technology has advanced so much in the past 50 years, and Civil Engineers have been reaping the benefits. In this blog post I will be writing about some more recent technology that is being employed by Civil Engineers today. In particular, I have been interested in the use of BIM modeling and its applications in Aerial Drone scanning and Modular Design and prefabrication methods. Below I will go through some new technology and attempt to explain how it works.

Building Information Modeling (BIM): 
    BIM is a collaborative 3D model that allows architects, engineers, contractors, manufacturers, and other construction professionals to design and plan a project through one shared model. It also allows stakeholders to view a 3D rendering of the project that includes specific information on every aspect of the structure. Such as materials, pricing, procurement, and other logistical information. With all the shared information available in a BIM model, the construction process is able to be better scheduled and managed. This is not just something that I have read about but rather an innovation that I have been fortunate enough to use in my engineering classes at the University of Illinois. Specifically, I have been taught the basics of Autodesk’s Revit software and its applications in modeling. 

Aerial Drone Scanning:
    Drones are now commonly used in forensic structural analysis and in construction projects to monitor building decay or project completion. They use high-tech cameras that may be outfitted with anything from Lidar (thermal imaging) to cameras that can detect minor cracks. If a drone is being used to monitor a project, it will compare the images that it captures to a BIM model and assess if the project is being built as designed and if it is being completed according to a decided upon schedule. Drones used for forensic structural analysis are great at accessing hard to get to places and evaluating the integrity of a structure based on deflection or other types of deformation in a building’s structure.

Modular Design and Prefabrication:
    These techniques are not necessarily new ideas but the ways in which they are implemented is something that interests me. Parts of buildings can now be prefabricated based on BIM models that are auto-converted to g-code that is read by CNC machines. This process had previously been time consuming and error prone if done manually. Also thanks in part to BIM, Modular Design is becoming popular in today’s industry because of its quick assembly time and “modern look”. BIM allows engineers to visualize how parts will come together and how to break up a larger structure into smaller pieces that can be built off site and assembled quickly on site.

The widespread adoption of this new technology has undoubtedly led to reduced waste and project inefficiency. Mistakes that could have been previously overlooked are now being caught before they have a chance to delay a project. Along with that, if a mistake is made it is easier to find a solution for it because of the larger variety of solutions that are available on the market. Response time to bids must be significantly cut down because of the high-speed data processing and decision making that BIM and other innovations like 5D cost modeling integration allow for. 

 If we have been able to go from using slide rulers and early IBM computers to 3D aerial drone scanning and BIM modeling within only half a decade, who knows what the future holds as far as what Engineering technology will be available. I am looking forward to diving deeper into these technological advancements and utilizing them to propel my future career as a civil engineer. I may not even have to wait too long because my upcoming summer internship with Alberici Constructors will likely give me real world experience with a lot of new technology that they regularly employ.