LEADER [email protected]

Editor: Trine Jentoft Mortensen LEADER [email protected]

Graphic Design: Take the step! Trine Jentoft Mortensen [email protected]

PRINTED BY: GD GRUPPEN Danmark Merete Tøndel, Vianova Systems, Managing Director Revolutionary stimulation packages as a result of the financial Contents: crisis demands an overall transportation policy. This is discussed Leader s. 3 in The Economist from June 20th 2009. The following interesting Geotechnics and Novapoint s. 4 statement could be read: ”An integrated system for planning – Highway 44 s. 6 one that includes passenger rail, freight, highways and mass Novapoint use in Denmark s. 11 transport – does not exist. Full analyses of projects’ costs or be- Novapoint goes offshore s. 14 nefits are rare”. And finally: ”There may be a new vision for tran- Importing laserscan data files s. 177 sport, but it will never progress until someone is willing to pay for Rovaniemi city s. 18 it”… Think about this for a moment … Tallinn Techical University s. 19 New double track in Norway - The article is about the USA, but it might as well have been writ- “all in 3D” s. 20 ten here in the Northern countries and Europe. These are chal- Novapoint Civil Construction s. 24 lenges that must be addressed by the entire business. Our vision New Airport in Faeroe Islands s. 28 is to finish what has been seen as the greatest challenge in the Belgian TucRail s. 31 transportation sector in the USA, but we need help. We have used Novapoint in France s. 32 the technology for the Norwegian Public Road Administration, The Norwegian National Rail Administration and the Norwegian Mapping Authorities. The Road Administration has first of all put Norway Vianova Systems AS their faith in us, and is a main contributor for us being where we www.vianovasystems.no are today. In addition private developers have, and Skanska should be mentioned first of all, shown us that they are willing to Denmark Vianova Systems Denmark AS order and pay! www.vianova.dk … Northern roads take lives. This alone is an argument for us to Sweden Vianova Systems Sweden AB build more and safer roads and it has to be done fast. Good roads www.vianova.se are also an important condition for a hard pressured Northern industry. This is why the Northern authorities have said clearly Finland Vianova Systems Finland OY that they will use several extra billions on roads, and that we will www.vianova.fi use modern building methods to finish them twice as fast as today. Latvia Vianova Systems Latvia SIA This business has been given an especially large responsibility in www.vianova.lv the financial crisis! The business is also facing great challenges in Spain their way of doing things. The seniors in this house are talking Vianova Systems Spain SL lively about when the transportation business went from drawings www.vianova.es to CAD. Now everybody is talking about the model, and here we France will work together with you as our customer to develop the best Vianova Systems France SAS way of working. Our goal is for you to take the step! www.vianova-systems.fr England From July 1st, we will be sole distributor of Novapoint in Norway Vianova Systems UK LTD and Sweden. We then have the same distribution model in all www.vianovasystems.co.uk countries. The main reason for this choice is that we want to get Thailand closer to you as a customer. We want to be present at the desks Vianova Systems AS, Thailand of users and decision-makers, and give you advice on everything www.vianova.co.th connected to a total delivery of software within infrastructure. Vietnam Many of our employees have heavy experience in road construc- Vianova Systems Vietnam Ltd. tion- almost 300 years altogether. In addition, we have close to www.vianova.com.vn 7700 years of total experience in software development for the Benelux infrastructure! GEOMAP www.geomapgis.com Takes you there!

Novanews on the Web: Merete Tøndel www.novapoint.com

3 Novapoint GeoSuite Toolbox offers a wide range of tools for geotechnical engineers for the modelling and presentation of ground investigations.

The program pack is the result of a Norwegian/Swedish cooperation financed by NFR and via funds provided by the Norwegian project partners in the GeoSuite project. The partners represent both the private, public, university and college environments within geotechnical engineering in Norway and include NGI, Multiconsult, The Directorate of Public Roads, GeoVita, NTNU and SINTEF and the IT companies Vianova Systems AS, Vianova GeoSuite AB and the AutoGRAF association in Sweden. The AutoGRAF association brings together around 90% of the geotechnical environment in Sweden. The project began with phase 1 which started in 2003 and has moved on from 1 January 2007 to phase 2, which will be completed in 2009.

4 Jan Ludvigsson, Vianova GeoSuite

Vianova GeoSuite AB is the company in the Vianova The central product in the program package is GS network which has geotechnical engineering as its Presentation. All geotechnical investigations which competence area. The company is located in are carried out in a project are saved and adminis- Stockholm and manages and carries out the major- tered here. Data is normally input via raw data files ity of the programming work. It is linked to the from field investigations, which is then presented in ViaNova network through ViaNova Systems AS, AutoCAD/Novapoint after being edited. GS which is co-owner of the company. The AutoGRAF Presentation is integrated with Novapoint Roads user association and the GeoSuite project in and Terrain, which makes it a rational tool for the Norway are represented on the company’s board, geotechnical engineer in day to day operations. to ensure high technical understanding and competence. Data is processed, interpreted and transferred to the road and terrain model in GS Presentation, The GeoSuite project has, through bringing togeth- which in turn means that geotechnical profiles can er cooperative partners both in Sweden and recover data in the form of calculated models of Norway, succeeded in creating new products and in (for example) rock surfaces in a profile. The rock further developing existing products to become the profile can be generated with data from the geot- complete and powerful program package Novapoint echnics, but also from other data sources such as GeoSuite Toolbox, which is designed specifically for maps, surveying data, interpreted orthophotos etc. the professional geotechnical engineering environment in Scandinavia. Novapoint GeoSuite Toolbox GS Presentation replaces the earlier product consists of GS Presentation for data administration GeoPlot as from version 17.7 This however means and for the presentation of geotechnical investiga- that old data no longer can be used. Old data can tions and the four calculation programs GS Stability be input into new projects directly from existing for stability calculations, GS Settlement for settle- GeoPlot projects. ment calculations, GS Pile Groups for pile group calculations and GS Supported Excavations for sheet The calculation program can be used as a free pile calculations. standing calculation program without the use of AutoCAD without problem. However, links to The first version was launched in the summer of Novapoint can be used to obtain valuable informa- 2006 and since then the program package has been tion and help to retrieve geometry in the form of extensively adopted both in Sweden and Norway. terrain models and borehole profiles as the basis for All large players in the market are customers. We building up soil type model at a calculation point. can, in addition to the project partners, mention customers such as Rambøll, WSP, Sweco VBB and INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE? the Swedish Road Administration. Parts of the pro- For more information, visit Novapoint’s web site! gram package have been used in project work and Contact person details and product sheets, course education at for example NTNU and Chalmers. information, user support and other information are also available here. More than 300 licences have been sold in Sweden and Norway. The number of users is however much Go to: more than this figure indicates, as most licences www.novapoint.no, or are network licences. www.novapoint.se

Courses are offered at several locations in Norway and Sweden. In Sweden alone more than 770 par- If you want to find out more about geotechnics in ticipants have taken part in settlement calculation Novapoint, please contact: courses so far in 2007.7 Kristin Lysebo, Vianova Systems AS, GEOSUITE TOOLBOx Sandvika, Norway, tlf (+47) 67 81 70 00 GS (GeoSuite) Toolbox has a simple program e-mail: [email protected] superstructure which handles general project data, GS Archive, in which new assignments/projects are or set up. Project handling maintains control of your project and shows what has been completed in the Jan Ludvigsson, Vianova GeoSuite AB, project, which documents are included in the pro- Solna, Sweden, tlf (+46) 08-27 69 90 ject and starts the tools which are required to carry e-mail: [email protected] out calculations and data administration.

5 Novapoint Virtual Map is developed such that the model can be organised in groups and with the option to turn these off and on. A road surface can therefore be switched off to view the infrastructure under the ground.

6 Highway 44

Today’s highway 44 through the centre of the town of Klepp in the Jæren district of Norway has a traffic volume of approximately 12,000 vehicles per day. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration decided in 2003 to build a by-pass to lead through-traffic around the centre, to improve traffic safety, the environment and accessibility.

Asbjørn Hagen, ViaNova Plan og Trafikk

TOTAL CONTRACT cussions. The developer’s main task will primar- The Norwegian Public ily include contract follow up and solution Roads Administration approval. has chosen to implement the project as a • Experience shows that there is a strong focus in total contract. This total contracts on project progress. type of contract type Implementation times are therefore significantly is becoming increas- reduced when compared with a normal develop- ingly common within er managed contract. In other words, it takes road construction. significantly less time from planning start to The Norwegian Public completion where structured as a total contract Roads Administration as opposed to a normal contract. Total contracts enters into an agree- give completed roads in ‘record time’. ment with a contractor for the planning However, there is a risk that too little time is allo- and construction of a cated to the optimalization and selection of solu- road section. tions. A positive development would be if The Operation and main- Norwegian Public Roads Administration managed tenance after com- project planning in the tender documentation in a pletion of the project better way than we have so far seen. It should be is not normally stipulated in the contract that there should be a included in these contracts. OPS contracts, which period at the start of the project that only should be we are familiar with from the E39 Trøndelag motor- used for planning work. The milestone should be way and the E18 Sørlandet motorway, can be con- approved work documentation. The road construc- sidered to be an expanded total contract. These tion work could then begin. contracts include financing and operation/maintenance for 25 years after opening, which are in addi- COMPETITIVE TENDERING tion to the assignments in the total contract. The tender period extended from May to August 2006. Competition was very intense. However, In a total contract, the project is planned and built Skanska won the assignment and construction was in accordance with the requirements which The started on approximately 1 December in the same Norwegian Public Roads Administration has speci- year. fied in the tender documentation. Adopted development plans and relevant road standards and munic- ViaNova has participated in a planning group which ipal guidelines form an important part of this basis. has a contract with Skanska for the planning of the The Norwegian Public Roads Administration as road project. The planning group, which is led by developer makes the final decision on solutions via Dr. ing. A. Aas-Jakobsen, has participated in the approving drawings. offer phase and is now preparing working drawings and survey data as a documentation for construc- There are several positive aspects associated with tion site implementation. total contracts: • This type of contract promotes interaction The assistance provided to Skanska in the tender between planning and execution. Time is to a phase included the preparation of offer drawings much greater extent used on development of and volume calculations. After entering into a con- better solution rather than on contractual dis- tract and a brief optimalization phase, the detail

7 planning work was started. The first working draw- drawings and folder structure follows The ings were delivered on approximately 1 December Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s PROF 2006, one month after start up. Project completion standard. A digital terrain model is set up based on is 15 December 2007.7 I.e. only one year from the digital maps and supplementary surveying data detail planning start to project completion. along the entire route. The surveying was carried out by Skanska Survey. ThE PROJECT The road project The OPS project E39 includes approxi- Klett - Bårdshaug in mately 4 km of new the county of Sør- highway 44, approxi- Trøndelag and the mately 2 km of local tender phase for roads and a similar OPS E18 Grimstad - length of footpaths. Kristiansand has A rock tunnel, three allowed ViaNova to bridges and four develop a strong underpasses are cooperation with included in the pro- Skanska. This coop- ject. There is in addi- eration continues in tion a significant this project. amount of municipal line re-routing. Cooperation has contributed to the The rock tunnel has development of been stipulated to Normal profile surface section both planning protect the valuable methodology and recreational area by Kleppelunden. The road would software. A modern road construction site with GPS probably otherwise have been planned as a surface controlled machines and equipment needs much road on the west side of ridge if this condition had more comprehensive surveying data than was pre- not been included. viously the norm. Road models have been supplied for all roads, both road surfaces and formations. The road section has three crossings which are Surveying data has in addition been prepared in kof designed as roundabouts. format for all lines, manholes, lighting foundations, sign foun- Dimensioning traffic 20 years dations, cable trenches etc. after opening is estimated to Surveying data in the form of be 18,000 AADT. At this traffic goals from a reference line has as volume level, the road should far as possible been avoided. be designed as a four lane road with central reservation. A work procedure where the The tunnel should, in accor- solutions are verified in a 3D dance with standards, have model is required if satisfactory two shafts with two lanes in cross-profession co-ordination each direction. The Norwegian and survey data control is to be Design of the north tunnel portal Public Roads Administration achieved. Controls carried out in has approved an exemption from road and tunnel the ‘old fashioned’ way in 2D using associated standards and set the road standard to a wide two height calculations can no longer be accepted, as lane road with central barrier. the solution also must be cross-profession checked in x, y, z. A cross profession VR model was there- Tunnel cross section T10.5 is selected to achieve a fore set up immediately after start, using Novapoint 1.5 m separation zone in the centre of the tunnel. Virtual Map. All professional areas plan digitally and Barriers are not acceptable in a tunnel, as this deliver data to the VR model co-ordinator, who would hinder evacuation in the event of an acci- updates this continuously. The solutions are dent. checked/evaluated in the VR model in cross-profession meetings and changes are agreed. Revised PLANNING solutions are prepared based on the review which is The project is planned digitally using the different updated and then reviewed again in the VR model. professional modules in Novapoint. Organisation of This process continues until the ‘right’ solution is

8 arrived at. This is therefore a cross-profession iter- ditch edge. Collisions between the different con- ation process up to the delivery of working draw- structional elements can easily occur. The VR model ings and surveying data. Surveying data should not therefore is actively used to choose a solution and be delivered to the construction site before this is check that selected positioning does not result in checked in the VR model. The working method is conflicts with other systems. fully dependant on these procedures being followed and that no one takes ‘short cuts’ and delivers data to the construction site without it being checked in the 3D model. The VR model only contains planned data. Data shown in the VR model therefore always corresponds with surveying data and working drawings.

The solutions are evaluated and checked in the VRmodel, including the following: • Aesthetics Bilde fra VR-modellen • Technical solutions under vegbanen • Alignment • Visibility control • Geometric deviations • Conflicts between the different site compo- nents (foundations, lines, manholes, etc.) Bridge constructions The same applies in areas with constructions. Novapoint Virtual Map is developed such that the Novapoint Bru is used in the planning of all con- model can be organised in groups and with the structions. The bridge project is transferred from option to turn these off and on. A road surface can here to the VR model, where it is checked that therefore be switched off to view the infrastructure bridge geometry corresponds with road-geometry under the ground. and that bridge foundations do not come into conflict with other systems. ExAMPLES OF ThE USE OF ThE VR MODEL IN PLANNING

Bridge at Evaluation of alignment and visibility Grudevarden. Picture from the VR model of Braut roundabout. Systems above and below the road surface. Geometric control Any geometric deviations between adjacent roads are checked. I.e. legs which meet at a crossing. Transition between the road model for highway 44and the road model for circulation area in roundabout Tunnel The tunnel model is set up by using Novapoint Bru Cable, line constructions and foundations and input into the VR model for control. The tunnel Road infrastructure such as cable ducts, duct cov- model is also used to generate geometric cross sec- ers, line trenches, drains, sand traps, lighting mast tions and data for the control unit on tunnel boring foundations etc. are located in the same narrow equipment. We have cooperated with Bever Control corridor between the edge of the road and the outer in the calculation of this data.

9 Sign positioning PROJECT hOTEL Final positioning of signs As companies in the project along a road is normally car- group, contractors and the devel- ried out in-situ. Sign posi- oper are geographically separat- tioning in this project was ed, a project hotel based on the however set using the VR Internet is used for exchanging model. All signs were reports, drawings and surveying entered with correct text data. This is structured so there and size and the positioning is an area for delivery for Sign positioning inside and was determined based on outside the tunnel approval and an area for visibility requirements and approved working documenta- relevant guidelines for tion. Contractors and planning signs. The VR model pro- personnel in addition have their vides a good basis for evalu- own area for internal exchange of ating sign positioning. planning data, surveying data etc. Planning permission pro- cessing The drawings are in dwf format The VR model is in addition and are plotted and distributed used for providing informa- directly to the construction site. tion on the project in planning permission applica- EVALUATION tions. Still pictures are This it the first road project in extracted from the model Norway with such extensive use and enclosed with the application. of 3D models throughout the planning and construction phase. There is little doubt that this type VR MODEL AVAILABLE TO ThE ENTIRE PRO- of aid is necessary if increasing requirements for JECT ORGANISATION deliveries and detailed working document are to be Each time the VR model is updated, it is copied to met. Greater knowledge and overview of project the project hotel. This is then available to all pro- solutions will ensure better execution and reduce ject participants including planning, execution and the extent of errors. The model increases under- development personnel. standing of the construction site and improves the documentation used in the evaluation of alterna- Use of the model at the construction site helps tives, solution decisions and the planning of differ- understand and plan execution of road construc- ent work operations. tion. The model is also an important tool in satisfying the VR MODEL AS FDV DOCUMENTATION requirements for external information. The VR model can provide a useful supplement to the traditional ‘As Built’ documentation. We have come a long way in this project. However, Visualisation of the infrastructure which is con- several improvements can be implemented in the cealed under road surfaces, behind tunnel walls etc. next project. Not least reducing the threshold for will make work easier for those who in the future use of the model. It should be very natural to are looking for information on the installation. access the 3D model when problems linked to the What form the VR model for highway 44 should be project are to be discussed by the developer and delivered with other FDV documentation for the contractor. The model should be used extensively construction site has not been not clarified with The and actively at the construction site as an aid in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. planning of work operations and as a supplement for working drawings.

Development is moving towards planning directly in 3D models, as we see in other sectors such as building and offshore. We have not had the same level of development within road construction. One of the reasons for this is the length of the construction area and continuous changes in the inter- face towards neighbouring areas, terrain, ground conditions etc.

Water/waste water in tunnel

10 By Cert. Lecturer, engineer Manager of the Road and Traffic engineering Laboratory at Vitus Bering, Denmark. Niels Leo Buch Christensen and Stud. Tech. Tina Jonsen

The Novapoint road planning project program has been used for several years by students at VIA University College, Denmark in Horsens in their road projects. The institution currently has 30 network licences for Novapoint 17.00.7

Use of the program is taught in the traffic and road technology courses VEJ B2 and VEJ B3.

11 VIA University College who has the overview, Denmark offers a no matter whether he unique range of pro- or she is working with grams from upper bridges and road con- secondary school stu- struction, port con- dies to advanced pro- struction, industrial grams, courses, re- buildings, housing, fresher courses and clean drinking water or diploma programs. the cleaning of waste water. Our competence areas are: • Construction Between 15 and 20 • Industry and IT new engineers who • Marketing, export have specialized in and management road and civil enginee- • Pedagogics ring graduate each year. All these students There is extensive have worked with co-operation with the Novapoint in their business world studies.

The common denominator of our complete range of 16 students in the autumn of 2005 have taken the courses and programs is that they are focussed on special course VEJ B2. The course covers roads and the relevant professions and are therefore aimed at paths in the open landscape and ends with a stu- the business world. To ensure this approach is dent project in which students design a proposal for maintained and developed, we co-operate as much a bypass around a small town. as possible with the business world and other edu- cational institutions both nationally and internatio- The students, after completing the course, will be nally. able to apply for jobs in road related companies and will have great insight into the program's road plan- Co-operation is through development assignments, ning capabilities. formal research co-operation, knowledge centre activities and the exchange of students and pro- Students work with conditions and theme selection jects that strengthen the interaction between edu- for the generation of height module analysis and cation and the business world, for the benefit of triangular and square grid models are calculated both parties. and produced in TMOD.

Proposals for road alignment are specified and the EDUCATION program calculates a proposal with transition As constructional engineers, you will take part in curves in AutoCad/Novapoint before a proposal for and contribute to the development of the physical vertical alignment is prepared. environment which surrounds us all. Your knowledge and insight will be used to build up and create Work is then continued in VIPS on cross section new frameworks. It is the constructional engineer design and dimensioning of the ballast layer.

12 Road gradient is calculated and is drawn into the the program in the drawing of new centre lines and project so that the new bypass and its extension longitudinal profiles and regularly used the function are verified. for drawing area requirements curves for the different vehicles.’ Draining conditions are then handled comprehen- sively and volume calculations can be carried out. ‘The greatest benefits from using Novapoint are that it is quick to change parameters in project pro- Triangular models across the road can be generat- posals. Preparing a new proposal therefore does ed and surfaces can overlaid. not take long. The program has many functions which minimise manual work and therefore does In course VEJ B3, students use the program for save a lot of time’, adds Tina Jonsen. crossing design including priority crossings and roundabouts. The program is a very strong tool in IMPROVEMENTS IN NOVAPOINT 17 this work and the first design proposals can be pre- Production of horizontal and vertical alignment has pared relatively quickly. been extended and improved in relation to previous versions. The option to edit the first proposals for different types of crossings can be tested and also used in In VIPS, 3D or the perspective section has in par- the course. ticular been improved since the last version.

The program is in addition used in student projects The new option that allows network licences to be where relevant. The students therefore obtain loaned out for shorter or longer periods of time will increased insight through this into the program's probably mean that is more widely used in students capabilities and are given the opportunity to test projects in the coming years. the different program elements. Individual study increases greatly through student projects.

Many projects at VIA University College Denmark are carried out in co-operation with the business world. We can mention:

• Bypass at Nørre Snede • Motorway connections at Brande • Bording – Funder Motorway • Development planning at Høgelsbjerg, Aabenraa

Tina Jonsen has chosen to specialize within the road construction area at VIA University College Denmark.

She has completed the 2 special courses within the area, carried out a road related project in her 6th term and has just submitted her final dissertation which contained a road engineering proposal.

‘My interest in the road engineering area started in the middle of the program, when we had the option to choose road engineering subjects. My interest has increased from this point, not least through my participation in Vejforum, a road engineering forum, where I really began to understand how many opportunities the subject area offered’, says Tina Jonsen.

‘I have chosen to use Novapoint in my project as a primary planning tool. This has eased my workload significantly, particularly in the drawing of different crossing design proposals. I have in addition used

13 Ronny Rostad, ViaNova Systems

Vianova Systems AS has in the course of how Novapoint could be used to assist subsea the last year provided assistance with the pipeline planning. Two years later, DNV contacted us asking for assistance with a project. planning of offshore pipelines. DNV’s experience from the first project was so positive that they decided to enter into a framework FIRST CONTACT wITh ThE OFFShORE agreement with Vianova to use both our compe- ENVIRONMENT tence and not least our software in a number of A little over two years ago a colleague and I visited future projects. At the moment we are participating Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in Høvik to demonstrate in three projects of this type.

14 Ill: FMC Technologies Study of Subsea Field

PIPELINES sive measures such as embankments and excava- Pipeline geometry has a great deal in common with tions on the sea floor. The optimal route is therefore roads. The horizontal geometry is built up of the shortest route between two points, which at the straight lines and curves with tangential transitions same time provides a potential vertical profile. between the elements. Vertical geometry is however a result of the sea floor terrain and pipe stiffness. You perhaps think that the sea floor is in general There are limitations on unsupported span length flat and that the shortest route must therefore be a and the sharpness of bends in the vertical profile. straight line. However, it is not. Subsidence and We try to find a route along which the pipe can be slides ensure the picture is very different. Sea placed directly on the sea floor, so avoiding expen- floors shaped by icebergs are an even more exotic

15 Trenches and craters formed by icebergs and natural gas releases sight. The icebergs scrape down into the sea floor wORKING MEETINGS and generate deep trenches. Natural gas releases Almost all planning has been carried out at working also occur, which cause local subsidence and the meetings where, using video projectors, we have formation of small but deep craters. These craters been able to test out and at the same time search can typically be 60-100 meters in diameter with a for the best solutions. depth of 77-10 meters, while trenches are typically 40-80 meters wide and 3-10 meters deep. Novapoint’s ability to maintain an overview of angles, lengths and radius combined with quick Both these natural phenomena affect the sea floor generation of terrain profiles means that decisions terrain and so determine where pipelines can be are taken more quickly than previously and that laid. There are in addition many existing pipelines more alternatives can be evaluated. Novapoint and installations to take into consideration. saves time, but more importantly promotes cooperation which results in more optimal positioning of TERRAIN DATA the pipeline. Sea floor terrain data is supplied, as for data from laserscan on land, as text files with coordinates. Drawings and reports are prepared after the work- Surveying is carried out from special ships ing meetings. We have also used Virtual Map to equipped with advanced echo sounders. The num- visualize the different alternatives. Our experience ber of points generated is large and could not have has been that including the contours in 3D-visual- been handled without the new laserscan handling ization provides a much clearer representation of function. In one project we are working on, we are the floor. handling 14 million points. Contours are generated with the function ‘Draw contours from grid model’ 3D-visualisation has first and foremost been creat- from the point data. ed to be used during planning. Technical information has therefore been prioritised before the creation of a visually beautiful model.

Øystein Holth from Det Norske Veritas examines the pipe route VM with contours

16 IMPORTING LASERSCAN DATA FILES

Kristin Lysebo, ViaNova Systems grids’ ideally should not be larger than 50-60%. This means that you must try different grid sizes to Laserscan data file handling is a new function in find the optimal size. Grid size can only be specified Novapoint 17.7 The function operates as follows. to one decimal place. Laserscan data files in XYZ format are analysed, converted and saved as grid files on the terrain model. The only data which is saved in the terrain model itself is a framework for each grid file. This framework contains a link to each grid file. The benefit of this method is that it provides the opportunity to use laserscan data in the terrain model, which in turn makes it possible to handle very large data volumes very quickly. The method has been tested in several projects with good results.

When you select Laserscan data files, a dialogue is displayed in which you can select type of file, file The contents of the grid file can also be previewed. coordinate system and standard values such as grid Colours are used to indicate height differences. size, group number and theme code. It is also pos- Pressing S in preview mode displays statistical sible to interpret heights in the file as depths. information, the per cent distributions of grids (vertical axis) and number of points in a grid (horizontal axis) being displayed.

As mentioned previously, the data generated will be placed in grid files (*.rut) on the terrain model, with only a framework in the terrain model linking this to the grid file. ‘Display / Editing’ in a terrain model will in this case appear as below:

You can enter grid size, group no. and theme code values in the white fields. You can also ‘drag' the values from one field to another field in a column as in Excel.

ANALYSIS You can use all the standard functions in Novapoint Pointing on the analyse button outside a file starts which read data from the terrain model. This an analysis of the selected file based on a given grid includes functions for generating terrain cross sec- size. The analysis generates a report, the most tions, longitudinal terrain sections, line construction interesting aspects being the relationship between in Novapoint Roads and all functions under ‘Number of grids > 1 point’ and ‘Proportion of Novapoint and Terrain Information. You can also empty grids’. Experience from projects in which this draw maps from the terrain model as previously. method has been used indicates that the parame- Triangulation will not however work with this ter ‘Number of grids > 1 point’ should be approxi- method and neither will the generation of grid file mately 10-15 %. The value of ‘Number of empty based on data stored in the terrain model.

17 IRIS-RDA consists of Vianova´s Novapoint IRIS system along with Street Doctor software for street and road network condition analysis and Road Doctor for Administration (RDA) system for procurements, both products of Roadscanners. a came up when Rovaniemi City merged with neighboring Rovaniemi rural municipality to form the larger Rovaniemi municipality. The two municipalities’ registers were merged under one sys- The city of Rovaniemi has tem and the Vire greenery register was piloted a software that pro- added. duces information for planning street and road network - Rovaniemi has been using Roadscanners’ StreetDoctor/RDA-sys- maintenance. The IRIS-RDA tem for the structural and operational system that gathers informa- mapping of the street network since as tion on the condition on far back as 1999. Now this data can be roads has been jointly directly uploaded into the IRIS street designed by city of register. With the help of the IRIS-RDA system we are able to proceed from the Rovaniemi, Vianova Systems street network level upward to the level Finland and Roadscanners. of project management and further to

18 quality management and decision-making levels, AutoCAD Map3D and Novapoint 17.07 software. says Roadscanners Managing Director Timo Saarenketo. - In their studies up to now the students have only had access to very modest workstations. This dona- - IRIS-RDA software represents data in map views tion allows us to expand the education we give to instead of tables. Now we are also able to get video new areas, such as traffic management and design- or still images of the targets. Updating information ing municipal infrastructure as well to noise level is simple when the changes are immediately regis- calculations, says professor Andrus Aavik at the tered into the system. The database structure of Tallinn Technical University road department. the system ensures that that all users have access to the information”, comments Arvo Seppälä from - The new software will enhance the engineering the Rovaniemi City´s Technical Department. skills we provide, the quality of our design and overall project management. Another significant Now the ability to share data from different soft- benefit is that Novapoint is widely used in Estonia ware enables improvements in planning structural and elsewhere in Europe. Employment opportuni- improvements, rebuilding roads and more efficient ties are much better if our student master this soft- procurement. ware when they graduate.

“The great advantage of the system is that now According to managing directors Hillar Varik of Rovaniemi is always up-to date regarding the con- Ramboll Estonia and Ivari Soome from Arutec, the dition of its street network. This supports the life- designing of roads and crossings is much faster as cycle approach, as we are able to see when and the computers and software make the analyses of where repairs will be needed next and how the different options easier. maintenance backlog is developing”, sums up Timo Saarenketo. - Professional software reduce the volume of rou- tine operations and automate a number of labour- The RDA-system is the central part of the Finnish intensive tasks, such as design and visualization. Road Administration’s new eUrakka electronic pro- This leads to projects that are better thought-out, curement system for contractors. RDA connects the error-free and most significantly much faster, says internal information systems of the Finnish Road Hillar Varik. Administration and searches in them for all the information that contractors require. The integrated The idea for this sponsorship came when the two IRIS-RDA system makes it possible to arrange open companies became concerned with the problems pitches, for example, on paving contracts together related to road-design civil engineers’ graduation. with the Finnish Road Administration. Ramboll Eesti and Arutec have committed them- selves to further support to this university program. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Timo Saarenketo, Roadscanners +358 16 4200 521 - Our main objective is to help raise the professio- Arvo Seppälä, City of Rovaniemi +358 16 322 6311 nal level of specialist graduates, says Ivari Soome. Jari Niskanen Vianova Systems Finland +358 40 568 2643 -Ramboll Group is a leading Nordic consulting company that has long been present in the growing Estonian market. Ramboll Eesti AS was established in spring 2006. The company provides design, construction, product development and maintenance Tallinn consultation and specialist services in a number of Technical University industries. Arutec OÜ specializing in IT was founded in 1995, received a workstation and Software and since 2006 the company has been part of donation courtesy of Vianova Finland Vianova Systems Finland Oy and the Vianova Systems network. Arutec is a reseller for Autodesk and Ramboll and Vianova Systems software, and it offers both training and consultation for (Auto)CAD users. The The Tallinn Techical University‘s road department company has a stable clientele within Estonian con- has been given eight AutoCAD workstations togeth- struction companies and engineering and architec- er with relevant software jointly by the Finnish tural agencies. Vianova Systems and Ramboll. The donation involved Dell-workstations with preinstalled

19 New double track Lysaker-S

we have, in association with planning the new double tracks between Lysaker and Sandvika, had the opportunity to make our dream of ‘ALL IN 3D’ come true. In this article we can look at whether we really managed to Torbjørn Tveiten, ViaNova Plan og Trafikk realize this dream

Lysaker west surface section with new Lysaker station

20 Sandvika – ‘All in 3D’

PROJECT Aas-Jakobsen/ViaNova started the planning work concrete tunnel and onwards into a rock tunnel to for a new double railway track between Lysaker Engervannet in Sandvika. The work also includes and Sandvika in 2004. Our work was linked to the co-ordination with the new Lysaker station work. Lysaker west and Sandvika east surface sections. The Lysaker west surface section includes level The Sandvika east surface section includes a new separated branching of the Asker line and required four track surface section and level separated re-routing and reconstruction of the Drammen branching for a new double track in rock east- line. New double tracks should pass through a wards towards Lysaker.

21 Sandvika east surface section: Early version of the model Sandvika east surface section: Demo construction model

BACKGROUND Administration as a basis for discussions and to The development of a 3D model was initially not a quality control solutions. It was in addition used to part of the agreement with The Norwegian extract still pictures from agreed view points to National Rail Administration. In a separate meet- present the different solutions. ing with The Norwegian National Rail Administration it was discussed whether to use The model was used more and more actively and this type of technology and working methodology updated continuously as the planning work pro- in the work. We and The Norwegian National Rail gressed. We, working with The Norwegian National Administration both saw the potential and the Rail Administration, saw several opportunities to many opportunities it could offer and it was there- expand the model geographically, its content and fore agreed to initially establish models for both not least into more areas of application. the surface sections (Lysaker west and Sandvika east). The work was expanded, at the request of the The start point of this work was the setting up of Norwegian National Rail Administration, to include: models of the substructure. This work should also be started immediately so that the basic model • The option to drive through the entire section. was ready by the time the first track plan version Entire tunnel sections should therefore be was completed. modelled including all details such as niches, fans, suspended masts, emergency tele TEChNOLOGY AND CONTENTS phones, block telephones and other installa- The work started immediately. It was decided that tions in the tunnel. Novapoint Virtual Map should be used as a tool. • Establish routes for different types of train This is a quick and efficient tool for updating the • Construction models for all rig areas including model as planning work progresses and is simple transverse tunnels with loading stations for all parties to use. Procedures for working with • New Lysaker station. Basis was received from the model for the different professional areas were Cowi, who had set up a model of the station set up, so that we could include all constructions previously directly into the model and generate an updated • All main signals, repeat signals and dwarf model in a short space of time. signals for the stations • All markers The existing situation for both surface sections • DVD film for use in information meetings with was set up using existing maps and associated affected neighbours orthophotos. It was also agreed to incorporate planned elements continuously, such as: I.e. Everything which is planned and visible along the entire section in 3D. • Track geometry • All constructions (portals, tunnels, walls etc) AREAS OF USAGE AND ExPERIENCE • Fences/railings How was the model used in the project group and • Vegetation planting plans by the client? • Road geometry and emergency service areas • Railway engineering installations such as KL As mentioned previously, the model was used in masts and cable ducts all types of meetings and was on average shown • Rig areas once a week in different forums (planning meetings, land owner meetings, information meetings, The model was initially used at internal working presentations, professional groups etc). This tool meetings with The Norwegian National Rail was also perfect for:

22 Surface section Sandvika east Rock tunnel in the Lysaker direction

• Visual check of potential conflicts • Visualisation of subsurface installations • Evaluation of esthetical design - architect and • Displaying existing rock level and construction landscape architect trenches • Cross profession check • Visualisation of construction in stages • Generation of cross sections of complicated • Basis for emergency plans constructions • Training of personnel in The Norwegian • Control of surveying data National Rail Administration/Train operation • Quality control of transitions/connection points • Basis for information to the public - available • Collision check with railway engineering on web/stations? constructions • Basis for information to contract partners • Visibility control of distance to signals • Collision check pipe cross and cable routes

This way of working way was very well received Some of these activities have already been agreed by The Norwegian National Rail Administration, with The Norwegian National Rail Administration whose comments such as ‘a new era in the plan- and you can below see a demo of how this type of ning of signal systems’ and ‘ an excellent tool for model can be used for visualisation of construction quality controlling and communicating internally trenches and subsurface installations. and externally’ gives us confidence that we are on the right road (or track) towards realizing our SO, hAS ThE DREAM BECOME A REALITY ? dream of ‘everything in 3D’. .... the answer is that we have come a very long way in realizing the dream and that we, together whAT NOw? with The Norwegian National Rail Administration, In addition to the work completed, we see several will continue to develop the model and areas of areas of usage for such models. Including : usage so that the dream is realized one day in the future.

Lysaker west surface section

23 John Galten AS is a construction machinery contrac- We work with many different types of projects and tor company with 377 employees and sales in 2006 for both large and small clients. The projects vary of just over NOK 80 million. Based on increasingly from simple land plots to complete cabin ‘estates' more stringent documentation requirements and with the infrastructure required and with lifts and the earnings potential represented by controlling slalom slopes. However, the projects we handle also volumes, the company in the spring of 2006 pur- include a great deal of road construction. We cur- chased a computer tool to handle these aspects of rently are also heavily involved in the development assignments. Novapoint Civil Construction was the of the Norwegian Armed Force’s new artillery range computer tool selected as it was considered that it in the Østlandet region of Norway. was a program that could handle most of the assignment types a contractor normally carries out. The assignments are therefore very varied.

24 Novapoint Civil Construction

Using Novapoint Civil Consruktion to create surveying data and for volume calculations

Implementing a computer tool to handle surveyor assignments has given a significant increase in quality to the medium sized construction machinery contractor company John Galten AS. There were shown to be many benefits.

Nils Olav Roland, John Galten

However, what is common to all is that they require surveying data for surveyors and machinery operators, volume calculations and as-built drawings. I below describe how we have worked with recent projects we have completed.

UPGRADING COUNTY hIGhwAY 606 There are many roads around the country that require upgrading and improvement. We were fortunate to win the contract for the upgrading of county highway 606. The project was not one of the largest, but was however interesting. I had, in this project, the opportunity to try out many elements such as correc-

25 tion of terrain model where it has been shown that the existing road does not match the terrain model used in planning. The road was re-surveyed and included in the terrain model at a higher priority, so that I did not need to remove any of the original terrain data. Rock was also found in the section. This was surveyed and added to the terrain model as a layer in the ground. The next element was the replacement of marsh, both across the entire or parts of the road width. This was surveyed and entered in the terrain model in the same way as the rock. The road model was then recalculated.

I should also mention that the new version volume reporting for Excel Novapoint 177 was used, which has several new details which were very useful in the project. First and foremost was the option to end a layer in the ground vertically, where materials replacement did not extend across the entire road width. I would also like to mention the new volume reporting for Excel, which is very well structured and clear.

Here you can obtain the volumes you need and volumes for each profile at the intervals you have selected. cross sections with shading used to represent materials replacement. When this was completed, cross sections were drawn in the drawing with shading used to represent materials replacement.

After surveying has been completed and has been imported into the terrain model, calculating the project before and after corrections is simply achieved by turning off and on different layers. This really shows you the benefits of being able to check volumes.

If this job had not been carried out by checking in the terrain model etc, we would have accepted the volumes specified in the contract, which in this case would have resulted in us having to carry out a great deal of work for free.

Before we purchased this program, we had to check everything manually, which was also not as accurate as the result we achieved here. Increasingly busy working days also does mean that we probably a triangle model was created of the original terrain and the would have accepted the volumes specified in the blasted salvo, so that the volume between triangle models function could be used. contract.

The costs of the investment can therefore be quickly covered in the course of a relatively low number of projects.

VOLUME CALCULATIONS OF A ShOOTING RANGE FACE IN DEIFJELLET The last significant project was a volume calculation of a shooting range face in Deifjellet, Regionfelt Østlandet. John Galten AS had a contract with The Norwegian Defence Estates Agency for blasting, crushing and transport of rock for use in the construction of the firing range.

Parkingplace Trysilfjellet Just before Christmas, a salvo of almost 30,000 m3 the longitudinal profiles of the terrain of new lift was blasted. It was surveyed and a terrain model routes. Use of Longitudinal profile in Novapoint was generated. The volume calculation was first car- meant that the drawing was completed in no time ried out as a construction trench, using the slope compared with the ‘old days‘. surface function. However, to ensure 100% certainty, a triangle model was created of the original terrain and the blasted salvo, so that the volume between triangle models function could be used. The result was the same - which was very reassur- ing.

BIG VARIATIONS BETwEEN JOBS We in general use Novapoint every day, both in large and small assignments. First and foremost to import/export the surveying data which is essential to keep production underway. But also to ensure we can meet the increasingly Multi-storey car park, Trysil ski resort more stringent requirements for As-built drawings We have experienced increasing needs to create in projects. survey data and to carry out volume calculations of terrains/constructions that do not lie along the road. As previously mentioned, the assignments are many I.e. in the work on the multi-storey car park at Trysil and varied. Here is a summary of some of our pro- ski resort, the volume calculation function Slope jects: surfaces was used for the construction trench.

Mosanden Næringspark The terrain was surveyed before start up and the Here we planned a road, placing great emphasis on construction trench was drawn using the construc- mass balance. We adapted the line using Line con- tion drawing. Distance from the object was entered struction, to optimalize the result. to provide space for shuttering and the height was offset to provide space for floor casting and the Another aspect in this project, was the need to required gravel ballast necessary under the floor. extract as much material as possible to use elsewhere on the construction site without this coming Rock was also discovered in the construction trench into conflict with adjacent property boundaries. during the construction process. This was immediately surveyed by a surveyor and Creating a road model of the project gave us full entered into the same calculation function as a layer control all the time. We could build the road right ground/rock -1. first time, as all trial and error had been carried out in the model. You can also add any slope angle you want to the different layers. The calculation was re-run to obtain the volumes for the different material types.

My experience with the program so far is very positive. It is also very positive that improvements, new versions and options are continuously released. I am also very satisfied with all the follow up and help from Vianova Systems’ user support.

I will conclude with some improvement requests…..

• Option to link drawing to project ID • Option for different prefix when using survey data from drawing. For example, when extract- ing coordinates from a water/waste water drawing, there should be the option for have a prefix such as VK and SK etc to differentiate between waste water manholes and water manholes. Trysilfjellet Alpin AS • Option in the volume calculation function slope Slalom slopes and lift routes also have a terrain pro- surfaces to print out volume reports to text for- file. In the 2006 season, we generated a longitudi- mat. nal profile of the terrain of 6 new lifts and associated slopes. This was then sent to the lift suppliers, who based their calculations on this. Below is shown

27 Ewald Kjølbro, LANDSVERK

PILOT PROJECT IN 3D NEW AIRPORT IN THE FAER

The Faeroese Road Directorate, LANDSVERK, is responsible for managing the public construction of roads, harbors, airports, tunnels and buildings in the Faeroe Islands. LANDSVERK owns, plans and maintains all main roads. There are approximately 1,000 kilometers road system in the Faeroe Islands, of which circa 500 kilometers are main roads.

Furthermore, the approximately 200 employees manage authority functions in relation to harbors, roads, tunnels, airports and are also in charge of planning the Faeroese in-frastructure. The infrastructure (road system, bridges, tunnels, harbors) in the Faeroe Islands is to be expanded for a total amount of 103 mio. DKK in 2009.

The current, and only, airport in the Faeroe Islands, Vágar Airport, is located on Vágar Island. The airport has scheduled departures to several destinations with the largest faeroese airline: Atlantic Airways.

LANDSVERK employ Novapoint for road planning. That is why it is natural to use the program as a planning tool for preliminary studies of possible locations for a new airport in the Faeroe Islands. The runway on the current airport is too small and a lar-ger and longer runway is needed in order to transport imported goods with larger transportation planes.

A preliminary study examines whether a project is doable in the prospective terrain. Such studies are especially comprehensive in the Faeroe Islands because of the very demanding terrain conditions with large altitude differences. This results in special challenges when planning new roads and – of course – airports.

LANDSVERK has performed a preliminary study on Vágar, north of Vágar Airport. Here it is possible that a new runway can expand the airport sufficiently. This will save a great deal of costs because they do not have to build a completely new airport.

CONSTRUCTION OF MODEL A terrain model has been formed on the basis of terrain data: contour lines, break lines and datum points. The runway is calculated in 3D via Novapoint functions after which it can be added to the model. From the very beginning the model has been put in No-vapoint Virtual Map. This means that you can move around inside the model. Placing an ortophoto over the terrain makes it possible to see the potential location of the new, 2.6 kilometer long, runway. The present runway is visible in the right side of the image.

28 ROE ISLANDS The location of the new runway

Approach level

29 The location of the new runway means that planes an alternative – higher – location of the runway must approaching must change their di-rection approxi- be examined. mately 2.5 kilometers from the runway. To show this A flight that shows the model without the two levels an approach level has been added to the 3D model. has been made to show the 3D model - see the figures The level starts at the runway and then moves upward at the bottom. with a 2 % tilt. The level is see-through in order to keep the terrain beneath visible – see figure 2. At the Different possibilities and cost estimations can be test- same time, the approach level shows places that hit ed out when ”laying” the run-way in a 3D model. This the terrain. In these cases parts of the terrain must be gives a greater certainty about the final projekt when removed. it comes to quality, time frame and economy.

At this point another level, the barrier level, has to be Earlier on, a preliminary examination consisted of added to the 3D model. This level also starts by the many longitudal profiles and cross sections. This was runway and moves from this point upwards to all sides slow and time consuming work. When using a 3D tool with a 1:77 tilt – see figure below. The amounts that lie you save valuable time and at the same time your data above the barrier level is also shown in the figure is ready calculate masses. below. LANDSVERK has used the 3D model to show and explain the preliminary examina-tions. This has been the best possible way to present their results to politi- cians and other stakeholders. A 3D model makes it far easier to explain non-specialists how the project needs to be adapted to the challenging terrain.

LANDSVERK are currently examining three other locations that are possible candi-dates for accommodating an airport: Glyvursnes på Streymoy, Søltuvik på Sandoi og Skorhæddin på Eysturoy.

LANDSVERK also performs seabed examinations that, among other things, are used in connection with the expansion of the Faeroese harbors. In such a case Approach and barrier level Novapoint Virtual Map can be used to control and visualize depth sounding that are made with such accura- In Novapoint it is possible to calculate the excavation cy that you can see ship wrecks and etc. amount. The approach level re-sults in a 3.5 mio. m3 excavation while the barrier level results in an over 92 mio. m3 excavation. These amounts are so huge that

Flight = approaching

30 Belgian TucRail goes for Novapoint Railway

TucRail, the Belgian rail engineering company, has signed a contract with Vianova Systems Benelux for the purchase of Novapoint Railway.

Vianova Systems is on track and is conquering new ture design, construction and maintenance. ground in Europe. Novapoint Railway, part of the most complete professional civil engineering and infrastructure The new Vianova Systems Benelux BVBA has its office in design system portfolio in Europe, has been chosen by Gent-Brugge in Belgium and will cover the region of TucRail, subsidiary company of the Belgian Railway Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. Company (NMBS/SNCB) specialised in rail engineering The company starts business from July 10th, and is start- and project management. The contract which comprises ing up with two experienced founding associates who also of engineering software as well as training and support, are co-owners: Benjamin Van Daele will be responsible for includes 8 Novapoint Railway licences to start with. sales and the commercial side of the business, Chris Dheere will handle the technical side. Both have strong "This is a major breakthrough for Novapoint Railway", experience from the CAD and GIS market in the region - says Patrick Mc Gloin, director of customer affairs at Benjamin Van Daele from a local AutoCAD reseller and a Vianova Systems AS, the Norwegian mother company. French CAD/GIS supplier - Chris Dheere with strong tech- "We are experiencing increased demand for our 22 differ- nical competence and experience using Novapoint for ent Novapoint engineering applications in all the countries more than four years. we are dealing, but this is so far the second large success we have with our internationalized Novapoint Railway "We experience an increasing response from the European application in Europe. Earlier this year the Finnish railway market as the news about Novapoint as a professional and company VR Track also chose Novapoint. The Belgian con- user friendly solution is spreading," comments Patrick tract represents therefore a very important step forward McGloin, managing director of Vianova Systems AS. for us." "Good press coverage in the European professional media combined with local expertise and good customer refer- Novapoint Railway is a relatively new product on the inter- ences confirm that we are getting closer to our vision to national market. Vianova Systems chose only last year to establish Novapoint as the European solution for infra- commercialize and internationalize this successful Nova- structure (road, rail, waterways and airport) design, con- point application, having been a Norwegian only applica- struction and maintenance. Our leading position in the tion up to then. The Norwegian railway authorities have Nordics in combination with our targeted presence in used Novapoint Railway for over 14 years! country after country is paying off," he says.

"We had some tough competition in Belgium", says On 4/8/2009 the AWV (Belgian Highway and Traffic Benjamin Van Daele. "The reasons we won were due to Angency) started to reconstruct the intersection on the our local expertise and the speed at which we could sup- A12 in Londerzeel. This intersection is one of the 131 rec- ply a localised solution, with support for local drawing ognized dangerous intersections that AWV will reconstruct standards and formats. Also the fact that the Norwegian in the province of Flemish Brabant. Railway Administration has successfully been using The new intersection will be more compact and safer for Novapoint Railway for all its design for such a long time all road users. A new parallel street will also been build was important. With this contract Vianova Systems is one along the highway to secure the access to the houses more step closer to its vision of being the major European nearby. Project cots: 1.500.000 € supplier of complete civil engineering software." Vianova is fulfilling its European vision - Vianova Systems Voka - Chamber of Commerce of Halle-Vilvoorde wel- Benelux opens Vianova Systems AS is expanding further comes this news. "Not only is one of the ten most dan- and sets up an office in Benelux. With offices in Norway, gerous intersections in Flanders addressed, it is also an Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, France, important first step in the creation of new jobs. This inter- Spain, UK, Thailand, Vietnam, and now also in Benelux, section had been designed to open up the easy access to Vianova is one more step closer to establishing Novapoint the nearby business park of Meise-Westrode.” as the European solution provider for life cycle infrastruc-

31 Vianova has been fine-tuning its technology in France since 20077 in order to match the requirements from French engineering design. The technology enables constructors and designers of transportation infrastructures to model complex infrastructure projects in 3D, globally and with the required level of accuracy.

French project managers and designers demand and expect more and more from solutions in the 3D design field. Vianova’s technology can fulfill these rightful expectations thanks to its modern software architecture and our portfolio of professional applications, as opposed to other local products.

32 NOVAPOINT IN FRANCE

The goal for Vianova is to sustain a successful collabo- COMMITMENT TO ThE FRENCh MARKET ration process with all stakeholders involved in the At Vianova, we believe that only a market with a size infrastructural field in order to facilitate an effective as big as the European market has the crucial magni- level of communication between designers, decision tude to rationalize the costs of software development makers and users of such infrastructures. required to address the expectations of engineers in Infrastructure designed ultimately with the aim of the numerous fields they are challenged in. improving safety and life quality of the average citizen.

Chamrousse: That was for Grenoble's candidature to the French international candidature for the Winter Olympic games of 2018 (Annecy was finally chosen to represent France). The goal was to represent on virtual map a technical study made by INGEROP on how all media, sport team, and people will go to the ski resort. We made that for 5 ski resort l'Alpe d'Huez, Les 2 alpes, Chamrousse for alpine ski, and Meaudre and Autrans for country ski.

33 Face 3D echangeur - That is a road project made by a client on a Plan Bordeaux - That was a tender to represent Bordeaux French new important national road into the west of france, the RCEA city on the web. We was on 3 last finalists, but there was not (Atlantique Center Europa Road) enough web option for them. Good to create the model but to for web interactions.

The current release of the French version of Novapoint European Network (TEN) a reality, with common (17.10)7 is the result of an 18-month effort conducted guidelines for the infrastructures (norms), interoper- with the dedicated support from the head-office’s ability (systems) and the services (deregulation) run development teams at Vianova Systems AS in order to on top. The TEN is not only composed of roads, but of capture, analyze and implement French engineers’ railways, airways and waterways too. requirements to conceive, design, build and maintain infrastructural projects from A to Z. The challenges are tough: Emission of pollutants caused by 77,500 km of daily traffic jam should be Vianova Systems France SAS started releasing French reduced by 50%. The freight transport by train should software solutions for civil engineers in 20077 and has be doubled from 8 % today to 15 %, vs. 40 % in the over 150 licenses deployed in 25 different accounts US. And those are just some of the challenging tasks. today. Its turnover has been on approximately half a This development and harmonization effort is led by EC million euros in 2008. Its team consists of half a dozen Directives in the field of civil engineering. It opens civil engineers with specialized expertise in road and opportunities for solutions built from the ground-up to railway design, geotechnical issues, noise propagation address the common European requirements, as well analysis, urban development and environmental as to be customized to implement national specific issues, virtual reality, etc. rules.

Only a year and a half on the French market and Vianova’s solutions in France are designed from knowl- Vianova’s solutions are already helping with the edge gathered in a European area with high population designing of over 20 real-world projects. Amongst the densities, a transportation network inherited from his- designers of these projects are County Councils, four tory and a tough relief configuration. Integration of out of eleven regional offices (DIR) of the Ministry of French rules is naturally being made continuously. Transportation, ARCADIS and INGEROP, two of the most important independent engineering consultants, This is executed and maintained by Vianova’s team of as well as several subsidiaries of the COLAS Group that civil engineers in France in collaboration with the are the largest road construction group in the world. French authorities in charge, like SETRA, CETE or LCPC. A EUROPEAN CONTExT The transportation sector in Europe is in fact one of the ASSESS INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS’ IMPACT largest (10% of the EU GDP) in terms of public and Under the Directive on the Assessment and public / private investments, as well as in terms of the Management of Environmental Noise that was size of the private groups based in this region acting approved in 2002, all EU Member States will have to worldwide, alike the number of people employed produce strategic noise maps every five years detailing (around 10 million). France enjoyed three private noise pollution from major roads, railways, airports and groups ranked among the 10 largest in the world, e.g.: industrial sites near urban areas. Bouygues (#1), Vinci (#3) and Eiffage (#8). The first maps were due in 2007.7 In that context The EC Directives have made the concept of a Trans- Vianova’s solutions helped users in France with harmo-

34 Terra 95 : That is a waste deposit site. The goal was to show that Tram Mulhouse - Colas try to win the tender for the Tram of the future site had no visual impact from a golf, from the road and Mulhouse so they asked us to make a model to help on tender from neigbour. We made 3 models, today, in work and in 2060. decision. That' in process. We have include in the model almost 150 real buildings on the 2-3 km of the project.

nized methods to assess the possible impact from and, in the meantime, validate on location the option infrastructure projects’. Indeed, common concerns they are developing. exist for matters such as noise pollution along trans- In case of any spatial conflict between entities in a portation infrastructures, which is a key public health complex situation in an area of the project, they can issue. step back and develop another variant. And of course, virtual simulation also allows the immediate under- There are two EC Directives (2002 / 49 / EC) in place standing of a complete infrastructure project by any- and imposed the Member States on the production of one who does not have a civil engineering background, noise propagation maps by the year 2012. This applies including public decision makers and citizens. This is to all municipalities with a population larger than especially relevant since the project can be visualized 100,000, and roadways with more than two million and walked (driven / flown) through via any web vehicles / year. In order to address an issue like this, in browser over the Internet or an intranet, as offered in such a short timeframe, engineers and planners need Vianova’s solutions. a real 3D modeler together with proper 3D noise propagation computation methods. The French method COMMITMENT TO RESEARCh AND DEVELOP- NMBP-Routes-96 happens to be the one recommend- MENT ed by the EC to the Member States. Its integration into Today’s CAD platforms provide the foundation for spe- Novapoint Noise makes it the sole 3D noise analysis cialized 3D design solutions. However they are not built solution available today in an AutoCAD environment. to support the type of services that databases provide and that are required for any real world infrastructure MAKE PROJECTS UNDERSTOOD project of considerable size. Such projects comprise Virtual reality is in some ways a revolution for civil several sub-projects, which are to be shared by sever- engineers similar to the one that mechanical and plant al design teams from different contractors, with vari- design engineers experienced about 10 years ago. ous levels of access, and different layers of informa- Vianova offers customers in France the ability to incor- tion. porate the power of interactive virtual 3D simulation into civil engineering projects. All infrastructure pro- Vianova is developing an application-server solution to jects have in common that they transform an existing answer its large customers’ needs, whereby the data situation - natural ground or man-built - into a new required by the designers is stored in and extracted one, both being three-dimensional. Therefore there is from, e.g., an Oracle Spatial database and made avail- a need for a 3D-native geo-located simulation system. able to the 3D design applications constructed around a CAD engine. Vianova’s belief is that commercial data- Virtual simulation as such isn’t that new, but is often bases will continue to extend their current services to offered as a rendering tool only. Vianova however has 3D entities enabling an even tighter integration of such always thought in terms of virtual reality-aided design application-server solutions. (‘VRAD’), a natural extension of 3D computer-aided design (‘CAD’). Because Vianova’s solutions bring the Images extracted from 3D models of projects designed ability to visualize the design work in progress in an in France with Vianova solutions – interactive virtual reality, at any given step of the (posted on ftp://www.vianova-systems.com, under process, designers in France can speed up their design folder NOVANEWS) ???

35 Novapoint Experience the pleasure

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