Profile of the Project: Valued at over PS20 billion. The project will require around ten years to finish, with up to 5,000 people expected to be at any moment. When complete, Hinkley Point C, situated in Somerset, is expected to provide more than six million homes using reliable, safe, low-carbon electric power. It’s a significant construction and civil engineering project, which marks one of the very first U.K. nuclear power plants to be finished in the span of an entire generation.
Customer profile: BYLOR, A joint venture of Bouygues Travaux Publics and Laing O’Rourketwo, of the most innovative construction and engineering specialists, is responsible for providing the majority of civil engineering work for this project.
Business Problem: How to streamline the design and details of such a massive, complex, and intricate project that spans over a decade.
Solution:
- Trimble Tekla Structures
- Trimble Connect
- Viewpoint Field point Field View Be aware that this feature will only be available to customers in the U.K.
The choice of a tool for use throughout the entire process
It is not surprising that digital technology has significantly impacted The Hinkley Point C project and BYLOR’s creation of over 60 principal structures, including the structures that will house the twin nuclear reactors. Alina Turda, Quality Systems Engineer – BYLOR, explained that for such a massive project, it is impossible to complete anything without paper.
At the beginning of the project, BYLOR was tasked with deciding what approach to take in the detail and design process and which software to choose the decision will remain with them for a very long period through the building of the nuclear power station.
Andrew Jackson, Technical Director, and Nuclear Quality Lead BYLOR, said: BYLOR, “At the start of our project, we looked at the best way to create and describe such a fantastic array of intricate structures we needed to develop. After examining various possibilities, this project should be executed using Tekla Structures. This means that all concrete and reinforcements throughout the systems were created in Tekla that extended from the design office through the use of that design on the site to have the structures built and then record the details of the systems we made.
One of the most amazing things regarding Hinkley Point C is the size – we employ the same method of detailing that ranges from a single cubic-meter pour of concrete inside the building’s corner to the most significant two UK-wide continuous concrete flows on the shore.
The two most significant benefits of utilizing the digital detail and design process
For BYLOR, There were two significant benefits to employing the digital designing and detailing process, in the words of Andrew explained:
First, we can see and comprehend the task we must accomplish. As a team of construction workers, this allows us to know the needs of designers by spinning our 3D model and examining the inside. In the same way, they can understand our construction requirements, recognize what details might be challenging to build on-site, and thus offer alternative solutions.
The other is coordination. As a civil engineers, we need to remember that we’re only one part of the vast nuclear power plant device. It is essential to link all the diverse aspects in the construction and make sure that they function together is crucial and it’s only through looking at the 3D model that we can accomplish this. Suppose there have been issues at other nuclear power stations, most likely because components weren’t positioned correctly. There may be one designer who outlined the reinforcement on a series of 2D drawings and another who was describing the embeds on a different picture. The first time these 2D drawings will be presented to each other will be at the discretion of the on-site team that will have to ensure that it fits.
With the help of digital models, be it the civil design that is being created in Tekla or different designs produced on other platforms, we can combine them and ensure that, in nature, it all will be able to fit in the box.
A BIM-based model of Hinkley Point C
The way everything is connected to make sense of the whole Trimble Connect
Because the building of Hinkley Point C would span over ten years, Flexibility and adaptability were crucial.
Andrew says: We decided from the beginning to use IFCand it’s a choice that has given us an enormous amount of flexibility when it comes to adjusting to the changing needs of the industry around us and what we create. It is possible to combine with the IFC format all the different design components and carry on to present the design on-site by using Trimble connect to check how it all fits. This also provides us with an increased degree of control. Working with IFCs where the information is published as frozen, monitored, and it is clear who made it – allows us to prove the necessary control to ensure nuclear quality.
Alongside Tekla’s buildable modeling application, BYLOR also employed the cloud-based collaboration platform Trimble Connect to facilitate the coordination and communication that is required for a nuclear project that’s this large.
Tim Davies, Central Digital Engineering Director Tim Davies, Central Digital Engineering Lead BYLOR Tim Davies, Central Digital Engineering Lead for BYLOR, said, “Our primary use of Trimble Connect will be to take information normally only accessible on desktops and laptops, including 3D models as well as PDF documents that are out of the office and to on the site of construction. Then, we can distribute this information to our workforce and provide them with accurate information at the appropriate moment.
Trimble Connect has been critical in helping us comprehend the complex designs we have in our portfolio and strategies that are difficult to communicate using traditional 2D sketches. Giving the team on site the capability to see 3D models on the field while working allows them to design the best quality and correct on the first try. In addition to providing the ability to transfer information and data into the field, Trimble Connect can also retrieve data and other information returned from the area. For instance, through this tool to share status, we can monitor how our installation progresses.
Find out the whole story about the construction of Hinkley Point C. Hinkley Point C.
Tekla software and Trimble Connect are just a tiny portion of the Trimble range of products that have been employed and continue to be employed by BYLOR in building Hinkley Point C, one of Europe’s most extensive and most complicated construction projects.
In sum, a variety of Trimble products were present during this Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant’s construction, from the design process using Tekla Construction process using Trimble Connect and the construction process with Trimble Connect, as well as progress reports, data, and records trackability using Trimble Viewpoint Field View.