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Foth Uses Digital Engineering to Deliver Large Infrastructure Project in Cedar Falls, Iowa

Foth Uses Digital Engineering to Deliver Large Infrastructure Project in Cedar Falls, Iowa
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Foth Uses Digital Engineering to Deliver Large Infrastructure Project in Cedar Falls, Iowa - 1

CASE STUDY Bentley Advancing Infrastructure Project Summary Organization Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC Solution Roads and Highways Location Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States Project Objectives • To implement collaborative digital engineering solutions to optimize design and meet aggressive timelines. • To develop a comprehensive visual plan to engage the public and stakeholders. Products Used Descartes, gINT®, Haestad™, iModel.js™, LEAP®, ContextCapture™, LumenRT, MicroStation®, OpenFlow™ SewerGEMS®, OpenFlow™ WaterGEMS®, OpenRoads™, ProjectWise®, RAM®, STAAD® Foth Uses Digital Engineering to Deliver Large Infrastructure Project in Cedar Falls, Iowa Bentley Applications Facilitated an Innovative Design Solution Estimated to Save USD 32 Million over 25 Years Fast Facts • Foth developed an innovative roadway design solution that transformed and revitalized University Avenue. • The organization used Bentley's open applications and digital twins to deliver a 3D BIM model that met city and stakeholder criteria. • Dynamic visualizations supported by Bentley technology were critical to achieving public buy-in and accelerating decision-making. Bentley's integrated modeling applications reduced the design phase by 50%. The BIM model optimized data accessibility and increased efficiency of Foth's interaction with the pubic and stakeholders by 50%. Bentley's collaborative digital engineering solution met the city's priorities to transform the corridor and save USD 32 million over the next 25 years. A Massive Modernization Initiative Located in the busy community of Cedar Falls, Iowa, University Avenue is a critical two-mile, six-lane divided highway that supports more than 20,000 vehicles per day. The corridor is more than 60 years old with deteriorated pavement and experiences a crash rate 20% higher than the state average. The thoroughfare lacks pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, and has exceeded its expected lifespan. With increasing public pressure to improve roadway conditions, as well as to provide nonvehicular access and spur economic growth, the city of Cedar Falls initiated a USD 38.9 million modernization initiative to transform and revitalize the corridor. The project criteria included improving traffic flow and safety, ensuring bicycle and pedestrian access and mobility, providing a "living street" compatible with existing networks, facilitating commercial access, and minimizing capital investment and operational costs. Foth Infrastructure and Environment was retained to develop a comprehensive transportation plan from preliminary engineering through final design and construction. To best address the city's priorities, Foth introduced innovative design elements rarely seen in the state, including roundabouts, a lane reduction, and a complete streets approach to accommodate multimodal travelers, all of which were met with strong public scrutiny. "Our concept development and design processes had to be accurate, defendable, and stand up to public scrutiny," explained Aaron Moniza, senior client manager at Foth. Faced with intense public involvement and aggressive timelines, compounded by technical and engineering challenges that required coordinating multiple phases and teams, the organization required integrated digital applications to meet city and stakeholder demands. Coordinated Digital Workflows With 100 members in seven offices working together for over five years, it was important that Foth have the right communication and design applications. Working closely with the city, Foth set out to help it realize their goals using Bentley's open BIM and reality modeling applications. The team used multiple data acquisition capabilities, including drone and mobile scanning for fast accurate data collection. The team put that engineering data to work by establishing 3D models and an open, connected data environment based on ProjectWise. Bentley's ProjectWise helped manage, store, and share over 21,000 files and 122 gigabytes of data among the geographically dispersed offices and engineering teams throughout all phases. Foth used OpenRoads, OpenFlows, and STAAD to create multidiscipline 3D models for roadway, grading, and utilities, as well as to support right-of-way acquisitions and construction estimates. These component models were then imported into OpenRoads for assembly into a coordinated BIM model of the entire roadway conceptual design. Bentley's civil, utility, and structural applications were used for traffic modeling, corridor simulations, utility coordination, and comparing using signaled intersections versus roundabouts, which facilitated collaborative engineering processes. These processes enabled quick analysis of numerous design alternatives to determine an optimal roadway solution. Collaboration and effective sharing of the models and engineering data were critical to meeting the aggressive schedule and developing a cost-effective design. Bentley's open applications streamlined workflows and facilitated coordinated design to meet these timelines. The integrated digital platform helped teams remotely manage data and bring consistency in document management and engineering processes, while also providing traceability for design change management to diagnose and remediate issues within hours instead of weeks. Access to project data and models on site through mobile devices enabled field personnel to quickly answer questions and remotely develop solutions. Leveraging a connected data environment enabled real-time access to all project data and streamlined digital workflows, accelerating design, optimizing client review and decision-making, and facilitating effective public relations. Maximizing Model Potential Having a single 3D model improved the accuracy and efficiency of the design process, seamlessly integrating designers and consultants from a global network.

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