Experiences of BIM

摘要

I really enjoyed the special BIM issue of The Structural Engineer as I have worked in this area for many years. I thought readers might be interested in my experience in a related industry. In large scale industrial projects, such as oil platforms, shipbuilding and nuclear power plants, PDMS from AVEVA (formerly the UK government research centre based in Cambridge known as Cadcentre) has been used since the late 1970s. For example, over 50% of North Sea Oil platforms were modelled and the new nuclear power plants proposed at Hinkley Point will be modelled in PDMS. Initially a 3D model was produced, primarily to provide 2D drawings such as piping isometrics and to avoid clashes between different disciplines. I once attended a presentation that explained that 1% wastage of piping was normal for an oil platform but this represented millions of dollars. Using PDMS had enabled them to reduce this by a factor of 100.