Few industries are immune from the technological revolution, and civil engineering is certainly going through a process of radical change. If you have a significant project ahead, you may be looking for help in the design and evolution stage and should be keen to know how various developments in the realm of three-dimensional design can help you to make your project a success. What is involved in these advances?
BIM and 3-D
One of the biggest changes in recent times is the introduction of "building information modelling" as a civil engineering process. This allows experts to manage and interpret a very wide range of data from the beginning of the project all the way through to its completion and for the first time, delivers a digital breakdown of all elements, information sources and assets in a granular fashion.
BIM, for short, is a part of the digital revolution that is helping to turn engineers and designers away from conventional CAD/CAM strategies towards 3-D rendering. It's undoubtedly a way of processing myriads of data points more effectively and before long will have completely taken over the conventional process.
Old Versus New
Just think how difficult it is (using the old method) to assess, plan and deliver a complicated structure given all of its features, degrees of alignment and building characteristics. Every element has to be assessed individually based on its composition, geometry and function, while all been cross-referenced to regulation and building code. It's no wonder that there is so much data available and why it is so hard to correlate.
Remember, all of this information has to be processed under a time constraint and with due deference to budget. Taskmasters often ignore complexity, while heaping on additional responsibilities and expectation through increasingly outlandish building projects. BIM has certainly come to the rescue here by managing the data more effectively, as part of the technological revolution.
What's Coming
In the not too distant future, "tech" may take some even more exciting and evolutionary moves, as civil engineers turn to virtual reality to project the end goal. This may make it even easier for all concerned to visualise the project in question and allow managers to come up with the buildings of the future.
You Still Need Brainpower
Remember, you always need experienced and capable civil engineers at the helm of any technology, if you are to make the most of it, so choose your civil engineering services carefully at the outset.
