Tekla Global BIM Awards 2010 - Steel projects

Adelaide Entertainment Center Facility, Australia

Steel Pencil

A welcome addition to lively local culture
Steel Pencil completed the steel shop drawings and fabrication of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre Facility in conjunction with Samaras Group of South Australia. The new facility is a welcome addition to the lively culture of Adelaide. The new live-performance venue has the capacity to host 2,500 general admission patrons and the ability to seat 800 guests for functions. The new feature dome entry will house service areas and state of the art audio-visual technology.

Good example of BIM process in action
This project is a good example of the BIM process in action, with all parties sharing a common interest in better and more innovative design and construction. The combined structural steelwork for the project is in excess of 530 tons whilst the perimeter beams of the feature dome are constructed from 610 x 12.7 millimeter CHS pipe. The Adelaide Entertainment Center was recently awarded accolades from the Australian Steel Institute.

Aquila phase 2 top side modules, UAE

Lamprell Energy Ltd.

Tekla chosen for fast-track delivery
The Aquila field development called for the production of two subsea completed wells in 850 meters' depth of water in the Adriatic sea, 50 kilometers north east of Brindisi, off the shore of Italy, plus provision for a third well. As there is no production or export infrastructure nearby, a stand-alone FPSO system was envisaged. At the start of the project, the technical challenges to achieve this were considerable. Lamprell's client for this project was Saipem Energy Services. The project including six pipe racks and seven modules was awarded to Lamprell in November 2009 and was scheduled to load out in December 2010. As this was a fast track project, Lamprell decided to utilize Tekla for modeling and fabrication detailing. They prepared the 3D model, fabrication details, build sequences, material reports and COG report from Tekla.

Model made it easy to check and decide
The project turned out to be very complex since there were many agencies involved and there were always bits and parts missing. When Lamprell prepared the 3D model, a gap was seen clearly and was then visually easy to fix. It was also very easy for the production team to look into the model and decide on an erection sequence. The model helped in accurate detailing minimizing errors and thereby minimizing checking. This obviously indirectly helped in the progress on the fast track project. Modeling with Tekla helped the project by, for example, allowing less than 1% of detailing errors. All welds were detailed in the model, thus leaving very little room for errors in the shop floor. No typical details were used, but every joint including weld appeared in the model. The model also helped the production team to refer to in planning erection sequences and it was easier to produce a COG report for yard lifting, monitor the weight of modules, create material take off, prepare erection sequence drawings, create clash resolution within steelwork, and send queries to the client.

Cascade Conveyor, Jwaneng Diamond Mine, Botswana

Roymec

Fabrication drawings, mechanical parts and chutes produced from the model
This conveyor was modeled and detailed by Roymec for Jwaneng Diamond Mine in Botswana. The Scrubber Plant Feed Conveyor feeds either into the scrubber plant or onto the first cascade conveyor which in turn either feeds into the scrubber plant or onto the second cascade conveyor. The second cascade conveyor then either feeds the scrubber plant or onto the third cascade conveyor which in turn feeds the scrubber plant. The three cascade conveyors are linked with hydraulic cylinders. This hydraulic system enables these conveyors to move forwards and backwards to allow for feeding the next cascade conveyor or directly into the bin. Each cascade conveyor will be completely assembled and commissioned at the fabricator before being transported to Botswana. The complete conveyor weighs in at 38 tons and will be lifted as a single unit 40 meters up onto a platform and then rolled into position in the scrubber plant building. Tekla Structures was used to produce fabrication drawings of the steelwork as well as mechanical parts and chutes.

Changyi Cultural Center Roof, China

Shanghai Rightfly Building Technology Co. Ltd

Curved roof surface transition
Changyi Cultural Center project's total construction area is 38,700 square meters and total investment 2.5 billion yuan. The overall roof structure of the center is complex, with large angles and extensive width. In the overall structure of the surface there is a lot of transition, such as twisted profiles and S-type curves.

Extensive use of Tekla developer kit
Shanghai Rightfly Building Technology Co. Ltd utilized the developer kit provided by Tekla to create custom components for this structure. Profiled plates were successfully modeled and developed for forming in this project.

Chennai airport expansion, India

Yugasoft

Curved tubular steel trusses
The Chennai airport is being expanded with a new domestic terminal and a new international terminal. The new terminal buildings are adjacent to the existing terminal buildings and consist of the city side and the air side. Architecturally curved steel tubular trusses were provided by Yugasoft for both sides above the arrival level, an ellipsoid roof shape for the city side and a flat roof for the air side. Ellipsoid roof shape was achieved by 16 triangular framed trusses consisting of 8 unique-shape trusses on one half of the building and symmetrical on the other side. Exact coordinates were fixed in the Tekla model, which resulted in a radius of members between the nodes. Camber at the cantilevered portion was added to the co-ordinates to create information for the actual fabrication of the members.

Piece-by-piece modeling reduced database file size
Each purlin in the project is unique in position to form the ellipsoid shape. Each purlin bracket has been modeled by taking in the final curved shape of the roof, while the top chord tubular members of the trusses are in horizontal alignment. Tubular tie trusses and tubular V columns were modeled and templates produced from the Tekla model to position the brackets. During the modeling Yugasoft consulted the Tekla India team to avoid enlarging the model too much or deleting any secondary members. As advised by Tekla, they created a small piece of the main pipe before creating the part cut and deleted the small pieces after part cut. Thus the volume of the model in bytes was reduced. At saddle portion where the lapping of saddle truss to main truss is about 2000 millimeters, the part cut in one go was not possible and was achieved in several steps by cutting and extending the saddle truss in smaller lengths. In this project the Tekla model was used for detailing, automatic fabrication, erection planning and follow-up, project communication and utilizing reference models imported from other software.

Circular furnace for oil refinery in Pernis, Netherlands

STEELINXpro s.r.o.

Refractory concrete to final assembly
This model represents the construction of circular furnace for Shell refinery in Pernis, the Netherlands. Nett weight of the structure is about 192 tons. Height of the furnace chimney is about 75 meters. In addition to the furnace construction and attached technological units, it was crucial to resolve problems of transportation and assembly. Number of furnace parts had already been supplied by the manufacturer with the furnace lining made of refractory concrete. Their weight therefore reached dozens of tons. Basic parts of the furnace are assembled in Pernis port with the help of cranes used for unloading container ships. They are then transported to the nearby refinery for final assembly on special carriages.

Detailed 3D idea of consequent units from the model
Work on the model and subsequently on the workshop documentation was started in October 2009 and finished in March 2010. The project documentation was designed in CAD. Designer got detailed 3D idea of consequent units via the Tekla model, which contributed to preventing a number of collisions. In this project the Tekla model was used for detailing, automatic fabrication, and project communication. For the spiral stiffening of the chimney, Pernis had to find a way to model a spiral from sheet metal; after a number of unsuccessful tries Tekla software handled this problem. The challenge of heat compensators of piping was resolved by a parametric profile.

Crown Railing, Netherlands

AaDee Steelworks

Supporting old Zaanse Huisje identity of green facades with white accents
The two-color construction and combination of the modern and culture-historical crown design assists Zaandam town to support their old Zaanse Huisje identity of green facades with white accents that is known all over the world. The Crown Railing project is complex because of its baluster which has a very unique shape and structure. The baluster is partially shaped like a crown and was blanked out of plate steel. Before this AaDee Steelworks had to make a perfect blooming of the baluster because after blanking it would be folded in an angle of 126 degrees. After folding the top of the crown baluster and the two blanked rounds on the flank, the baluster had to be perfectly round. The hand-rail holder was another complex part of the Crown Railing project. Its triangle had to fit perfectly in the folded holder, and this was considered already in the blanking of the holder.

BIM allowed creating final design in a very short time
It was very important that the railing shell connected perfectly with the RVS railing. The Tekla model was used in the design phase by exchanging web models and reference models with architects and Witteveen+Bos design engineers. With the help of the model it was easy to compare preliminary designs. An early understanding was that the welding between balusters and the hand-rail holder was not possible in practice as the architect wanted to see it in two colors. AaDee designer Jeroen Melief gave the proposition to split the parts and connect them with bolds from the backside. In doing so the quality of painting is guaranteed. BIM made it possible to create a final design in a very short time. Tekla Structures was not only used to design the Crown Railing but also to send the CNC files to welding robots, laser cutter and CNC-automatic drill allowing to avoid human mistakes and monitor farbrication. The Tekla model was also useful to order materials, make conservation lists, as well as use volumes and weights for zinc coaters and powder coaters.

Daming Palace Site Danfeng Gate of Xi'an, China

China Construction Steel Structure Jiangsu Co. Ltd

'Tang 1st door' reproduces history
Protection of Daming Palace ruins in Xi'an Danfeng displays domestic steelwork to show recovery of ancient buildings. This is the first nationwide construction of the main Tang style antique building in steel. The Danfeng Gate of the Daming Palace is the south gate, out of the Tang Dynasty Emperor Miyagi's main thoroughfare, an archaeological community known as 'Tang 1st door' and a large-scale exhibition building. External doors will be Danfeng Tang Hui-momentum as the Daming Palace National Historic Park's first landscape. The total building area is 11,474.2 square meters. The three-floor main building is 24 meters tall. Total project cost is about 130 million yuan.

BIM from design to installation
Building Steel Structure Co. Ltd of Jiangsu modeled the structure in Tekla Structures software, completed the entire project design in Tekla, and utilized the model for processing and installation. Design took them just 35 days.

Ducab HV & EHV facility, UAE

Galadari Engineering Works

1200-ton factory building to complete in 3 months
Ducab or Dubai Cable Company is a power cable manufacturing company that supplies cables to the UAE and Middle East region, and further afield to countries including Hongkong and India. Ducab's factory building is one of the complex projects Galadari are handling at present. It spans on an area of 307 meters times 88.4 meters and weighs 1200 tons. The project should be completed in three months.

Ensuring the shape of the curved structure
The catenary line entering into the factory building from a CCV tower penetrates the roof and passes by inclination to the other end of the factory. There are curved triangular three-dimensional trusses for the roof at skylight in the factory building. The roof framing's curved truss stretches at the length of 32 meters. Cladding system was to be considered acutely while placing the side runners and purlins to ensure the shape of the curved structure. Ventilators provided on the roof span around 30 meters and are supported by the steel framing. In this project the Tekla model was used for detailing, automatic fabrication, erection planning and follow-up, project communication and utilizing reference models imported from other software.

Exposure, Lelystad, Holland

Had Fab Ltd.

Antony Gormley's sculptures, often based on casts of his own body, adorn public spaces and galleries across the globe, from well-known works like 'Angel of the North' to his newest creation 'Exposure'. Exposure, a 25.6m high statue of a crouching Gormley is due on site in the summer of 2010 in Lelystad, Holland.

Exposure is fabricated from RSA (rolled steel angle) sections. Although the main model was created in Tekla Structures 13, Version 14 was used for modelling the individual nodes, the heaviest of which weighs 280kg. The complexity of fabrication required that Had-Fab undertake a full trial erection of 'Exposure' before commencing delivery to site in Holland. This involved the design, fabrication and erection of a crane in their assembly yard, for which Had-Fab also poured 540 tonnes of concrete foundations. The total weight of the project will be 60 tonnes and it will take 18 months to complete fabrication and erection.

Glass awning of Maastoren Rotterdam, Netherlands

Oskomera Group

Architects' dream comes true by 3D re-design
Prestige, elegance and functionality, these three aspects come together in the glass awning above the main entrance of the Maastoren, currently the highest office building in the Netherlands at 165 meters. The 700m² undulating glass, secured with spiders, is suspended from eight spindle constructions which are fixed against the façade like spider's legs. You wouldn't think so from looking at the construction, but 80 tons of steel and 175 unique glass panels (42 tons), each with their own specific position, within the awning were used in the construction. The entire construction was re-designed, engineered, manufactured and assembled by the Oskomera Group.

Total communication by BIM
The architects' (Dam & Partners Architecten for OVG Projectontwikkeling) original design was impossible to realize for a number of reasons related to construction and glass so the Oskomera Group's engineering department created a new 3D design which was as close to the original idea as possible. All the glass panels are now flat, for instance, and not partially curved, and the steel construction has a more elegant and appealing look. In addition to the aesthetic aspect, the awning now also has the function of breaking the fall wind generated by the tower. The 3D building information model design has been used internally for total communication, also to control the production machinery, as well as to communicate and control both the design with Vetrotech Saint Gobain (glazing) and to discuss the aesthetics with the architect. 3D BIM was also used for the very detailed strength-calculation needed for the construction, as each junction is unique and no standard gaff has been used because of the severe force within the construction. In the project, the Tekla model was used for sales purposes, design, detailing, automated fabrication, project communication and utilizing reference models from other software.

Grand Shanghai International Financial Center, China

Jiangsu Huning Steel Mechanism Co. Ltd

Steel frame and reinforced concrete core wall structure
Grand Shanghai International Financial Center is located in Lujiazui, Pudong business district 2-11-1 Chuk Yuen block, adjacent to the POS Plaza, Century Avenue to the northeast, southeast to the City Road, west of mountain bliss. project consists of steel frame construction and reinforced concrete core wall structure. The main tower goes four floors underground and 40 floors above the ground. The height of the building is 171.3 meters, total construction area more than 110,000 square meters.

Efficient procurement and coordination
Following the BIM concept helped Jiangsu Huning Steel Mechanism Co. Ltd in efficient procurement of material, fabrication and erection as per sequence requirement and timely completion.

Grasshopper Conveyor, Ogies, South Africa

Roymec

Fabrication drawings and mechanical control lists from the model
The Anglo Coal BHP Billiton Joint Venture Phola Coal Beneficiation Plant in Ogies, Mpumalanga South Africa, is a 16-million tons per annum coal washing facility that processes coal from two mines, Klipspruit and Zibulo. The Grasshopper conveyor, designed, modelled, detailed and supplied by Roymec, is used at the Phola plant. This conveyor is fed by a FLSchmidt Buffalo feeder with product coal. The Grasshopper conveyor in turn feeds the export coal feed conveyor which feeds an 8500 ton export silo. The conveyor uses a motorized head pulley and a screw take-up as well as a hydraulic system for slewing and luffing. All mechanical items together with the structural frame were modeled in Tekla Structures software. The resulting building information model was used to produce fabrication drawings of the steelwork as well as control lists of the mechanical items.

Guangzhou Pearl River Tower, China

Jiangsu Huning Steel Mechanism Co. Ltd

The first zero-energy super-tall building in the world
Guangzhou Pearl River Tower as the landmark of the core business district of Pearl River New City is the first zero energy consuming super-tall building in the world. There are five storeys underground, 71 above the ground, and the height of the building is 309.6 meters; the total construction area comprises 210,000 square meters. The steel structure weighs about 30,000 tons, as this is the first entirely high-strength bolt connection super-tall building in China. The main structure is supported by a tube-system frame, the core barrel is a reinforced concrete shear wall; a large number of bolt holes is needed to ensure highly accurate perforation.

From design to construction with the 3D model
Jiangsu Huning Steel Mechanism Co. Ltd modeled the structural steelwork frame in Tekla Structures software during the design phase of the project. A structural steel model was then passed onto the steel detailers, who used the model to generate the detailing model in Tekla Structures. All steel components in the software were created in full accordance with practical requirements. Automatically generated shop drawings made the project more intuitive and accurate. In the Guangzhou Pearl River Tower project, the Tekla model allowed the project team to collaborate effectively in 3D. The use of BIMs allowed the design team and the owner to more accurately understand the geometry of the structure.

Horizon Power Regional Office, Australia

Highline Ltd

Complete steel package of irregular structure without site modifications
This project held high significance as it is the central office for the state regional power group in West Australia. The project was a complete steel design. Highline Ltd's core business is using steel designs, which allowed the company to give their client an economical solution to complete the project. The raked internal ceiling of the building required 3D BIM for air conditioning and lighting arrangement. Construction was in a remote area and a complete steel package was supplied for the steel erection to stand steel without site modifications. Irregularity of the shape of the building provided a challenge for Highline as there were various roof pitches and few 90° corners. There is an irregular curve at the rear of the building to create an alfresco architectural feature. The building has a cantilevering roof structure as well as minimal wall bracing supports. This was necessary to avoid complications with the architectural window arrangement. There were also difficult compound cuts in column material during the fabrication process.

Project lead time reduced by simultaneous modeling and detailing
Using Tekla Structures, it was possible to design a complicated 3D structure. The steel design was based on 2D drawings, which caused some detailing issues during modeling. By forwarding a public web file to the architect, Highline were able to solve simple design problems that were unforeseeable in the 2D detailing. Tekla also enabled them to export the model into AutoCAD for concrete footing and slab detail drawings. The multiuser function in Tekla Structures software allowed having two experienced draftsmen working on the project at one time for both the modeling and detailing of the fabrication drawings, which reduced the project lead time. The Tekla model was used for all of the following phases: design and engineering plans, detailing, automatic fabrication (CNC Purlin files), erection planning and follow-up, project communication by Tekla Web Viewer, and utilizing reference models as AutoCAD layouts were imported into Tekla Structures. Highline used basic custom components for connections from their standard library, and they also created user-defined components to assist in the modeling.

Indoor Cycling Stadium for the 11th National Games of China, China

Shandong Zhongtong Steel Structure Engineering Co. Ltd

Beret-style biking venue
A bike venue for the 11th National Games in Jinan has been designed to a form of a beret, the structure in the form of pipe truss. This unique shape makes the truss fabrication process more complicated than usual. Nodes and the spatial orientation of fittings required high precision – 2D graphics would not have met the requirements – and the Tekla BIM solution provided a good solution to produce and install the steel structure.

BIM collaboration ensured positive project outcome
The Indoor Cycling Stadium was modeled using Tekla Structures and the BIM process in cooperation with steel detailers and equipment suppliers using different software (AutoCAD-based 3D system). Information transfer between steel detailers worked both ways, with Suresteel Detailing providing 3D DWG versions of the model to undertake the piping and some other aspects in their scope. Their information was then referenced into the Surge Bin model to ensure that there were no clashes and the interfaces all met up correctly. The 3D models were also sent to the drive suppliers to enable them to design the hydraulic piping routes and pipe supports for their installation works. The use of BIM process and collaboration between parties ensured an effective and positive project outcome.

Joetsu Therman Power Plant, Japan

Babcock-Hitachi (Philippines) Inc.

Conceptual and detailed design
Babcock-Hitachi (Philippines) Inc. (BHPI) and its parent company, Babcock-Hitachi Kure (BHK), have worked on the design of a thermal power plant project located in Joetsu, Japan. The project is a 594-MW x 3 units combined cycle thermal power plant utilizing the HRSG (Heat Recovery Steam Generator) system. BHPI's design scope is the preparation of the detailed design and generation of fabrication and constructions drawings of the low temperature ducting for exhaust gases from the HRSGs, leading to the smokestacks based from the conceptual design developed by BHK.

Model merge to check interferences
The low temperature ducting is only a part of the whole system, and therefore, there was a need to merge the model for this part (by BHPI) with the rest of the system (by BHK) in order to check for interferences. During the design process, there was constant coordination and transfer of building model data, including the models between BHPI in the Philippines and BHK located in Kure, Japan. The design of the low temperature ducting was successfully completed by BHPI and BHK utilizing Tekla Structures software.

Kusile steam turbine hall, South Africa

Cosira

Models copied to next unit with minor changes
The detailing of the Kusile steam turbine hall was planned to consist of different phases and models that will make up the complete turbine hall from unit 1 to unit 6. Each unit consists of a main structure, which is the turbine hall structure, and auxiliary structures, such as stairs and platforms that are fitted inside the main structure. One complete unit is made up of 29 models, of which 28 are auxiliary structures. The main structure consists of about 1800 tons of steelwork, of which up to 70% are plate girders. The auxiliary structures add up to about 340 tons of mostly hot rolled sections and light structural steelwork. As a complete project the Kusile Steam Turbine Hall will weigh about 12,840 tons of structural steelwork only. As most of the units are similar in lay-out, the models are copied to the next unit and minor changes are implemented. This has had a major impact on the detailing time of the project. All detailing has been done as planned and issued according to contractual dates for fabrication and delivery.

Hundred thousand bolts in splice connections
Each model for the main structure includes 10,000 drawings, consisting of assemblies, site fittings, plate drawings, member drawings, and plate girder plate drawings. Thus for six units this will mean 60,000 drawings issued just for the main structures. At the peak of the detailing up to six persons were detailing on different phases on the multi-user Tekla model and additional 4 to 6 persons on the individual auxiliary structures. On the main structure alone the amount of bolts has come to a staggering 100,000 bolts due to the extensive use of splice connections used by the connection designers. The portal frame structure has effectively opened up space that would be cluttered by cross bracing in the transversal way of the building, allowing the service crane to run unhindered over the full length of the total 6 units. Connections were designed in accordance to the restricted site access to ease pre-assembly and erection within the restricted areas. For Cosira, this project has been a delight and a challenge to be proud of.

Le Quartier Central-Düsseldorf, Germany

Ing.-Büro Reinard

Barrier-free ramp modeled using triangles
The barrier-free ramp of Le Quartier Central in Düsseldorf, Germany, was modeled in Tekla Structures software. The construction project of the ramp, which shows vertical height of 9 meters, was started in the end of 2009 and is to be completed till the end of 2010. The length of the ramp is 26.50 meters.

Elements modeled using triangles generation
The ramp enables a barrier-free access from shopping centre Le Quartier Central to a street bridge. The spindle element, girder and edge profile were modeled using triangles generation. In this project, Tekla Structures Phase Manager was beneficial, in addition to the excellent 3D functionality of Tekla software. For generating drawings, the outer edges of the iron surface were covered with wire gauze. The Tekla model was used for design and detailing in the project.

Mercedes Mine, USA

M3 Engineering

Hundreds of tons of steel fabricated from the model
This project model consists of the crushing and milling circuit for the Mercedes Gold Processing Plant in Northern Mexico. This circuit will be processing 1,500 tons of ore per day through its primary jaw crusher, secondary, and tertiary cone crushing. This material is conveyed to a 16.5' diameter x29'-0 Ball Mill. Fabrication drawings are produced not only for the primary structural steel, but also the mechanical bins, hoppers, chutes, and the material conveying system. Approximately 500 metric tons of structural steel, grating, handrails, and stairs are being fabricated in this project. Additionally, there will be approximately 200 metric tons of mechanical steel fabricated from the Tekla model.

Fully integrated BIM
Tekla Structures is used to design and detail for fabrication, additional process areas, and ancilliary facilities, such as leach tank structures, administration buildings, and maintenance buildings. Tekla StructuresBIM software was integral in the successful detailing, fabrication, and construction of this structure. Tekla Structures has allowed for an accelerated schedule and will assure fit-up and compatibility with the many vendor components. This 3D model illustrates the advantage of including all the non-structural materials and mechanical equipment in the model in order to achieve an integrated BIM process.

Movable scaffolding system, Portugal

BERD

Traveling steel structure under constant monitoring
Movable Scaffolding systems are conceived to be used in the construction of cast-in-place concrete bridges; they are traveling steel structures supporting the formwork that gives shape to the bridge. Due to the use of an auto-adaptative pre-stressing system (OPS, Organic Prestressing System, Patent PCT/PT 2004/000011), BERD's Movable Scaffolding System is much lighter than conventional ones because OPS greatly reduces deformations and internal forces. In brief, less steel and more load capacity. Also, safety is increased because the structure is permanently under monitoring. M70-S is an overhead system, conceived for span-by-span construction of concrete bridge decks with spans up to 70 meters long. The superior structure is a steel truss girder, characterized by having a superior arch actively controlled by the OPS during concrete pouring stage.

Multi-level factory building, UAE

Mammut Building Systems

Tons and tons of steel
The scale of this project is approximately 3000 megatons of steel. Mammut used the Tekla model to clarify and communicate with the consultant during the detailing and erection of the building. The consultant and erector appreciated having the 3D model available, and the verification of minute connection details was done by checking the in the model. As the project was complex and consisted of many areas, three engineers worked on the 3D building information model simultaneously and co-ordination was excellent as everyone was sharing the same model

Model-based site coordination
Moreover, the coordination with the consultant and site was done using the Tekla model and hence an ideal BIM concept was partially fulfilled in this project. As the project was extremely complex, with the help of Tekla software Mammut could understand the project well. The connection details were done according to standard engineering practice, and Tekla Middle East team was helpful in checking, for example, the member clashes. In this project the Tekla model was used for design, detailing, automatic fabrication, erection planning and follow-up, and project scheduling and communication.

Nanjing South Railway Station, China

China Construction Industrial Equipment Installation Co. Ltd

Nanjing transport hub
Nanjing South Railway Station with building area of 400,000 square meters includes the main station area of 80,000 square meters, truss elevated station platform about 13 meters from the ground level, and equivalent to the 2nd floor, the structure is like a train running in air entering the stations.

With precise control from the ground to air
Tekla Structures software was used to create accurate building information models and precise machine and installation drawings in order to accurately provide all the necessary data. The actual processing requirements of the factory were met by the 3D design in Tekla Structures, including all design and drawing output phases of the project. Bill of materials was created from the model to help accurately plan material procurement. The NC files generated from Tekla Structures helped achieve optimal plate nesting and CNC machine process.

Pittsburgh Arena, USA

Technyx Canam

Simultanous modeling in different rooms
The Pittsburgh Arena (Consol Energy Center) project started in June 2008 and was completed in October 2009. The arena has a hockey seating capacity of 18,000 and welcomed its first visitors in August 2010. This was a large project with a tight schedule. The model had to be split into 8 parts to reduce the model size and to manage the job over the different drafting rooms that worked on the project. Technyx Canam used Tekla Structures BIM software for precast concrete and shared the model with the deck provider. They also exported a 3D DWG to the joist provider. Tekla Structures helped with the overall coordination of the project and the reduction of errors in the field. Tekla's new model sharing functionality was used to synchronize in two different drafting rooms that were working on the same model at the same time. This saved time because more people were able to work within the same model. This project helped also Tekla to improve and further test the model sharing functionality.

Model sharing saved time and helped avoid mistakes
The main challenge in the project were the trusses. They were over 300 feet long and needed to be cambered in the 3D model. All pieces in between or attached to the trusses were detailed in cambered position. There was over 2,000 linear feet of catwalks that passed in between the bottom chord and the top chord of the trusses. The project ended up being 7,200 tons with a total of 6,300 shop drawings. The precast was entered in the model from the contract drawings and observed interferences that could occur with the steel; those concerned were informed using RFI and 3D HTML views from Tekla Structures. Many problems were solved ahead of time that could have occurred in the field. The deck provider used the Tekla model files to detail the deck. With that, they received different information that facilitated their task and also saved time. Every piece of steel was detailed and checked in Tekla, and CNC transfers were used to fabricate all the components. By doing this, the risk of error was reduced to a minimum and everything fitted well in the field. In this project the Tekla model was used for detailing, automatic fabrication, erection planning and follow-up, project communication, and utilizing reference models imported from other software.

Saffire-Freycinet Resort, Australia

Crisp Brothers

Roof steelwork curved in two directions
The Saffire-Freycinet Resort was built on the old site of the Coles Bay caravan park in Tasmania. It was constructed from a mix of steel, timber, concrete and a membrane roof. Tekla Structures software was used in the modeling of the curved steel pipe skeleton, laminated timber rafters, and first floor slab. The roof steelwork being curved in two directions provided a challenge in all areas of construction as well as the modeling and detailing. With the help of Tekla Structures, the project went smoothly from start to finish and if you have a spare $1250 you will be able to experience it for a night!

Detailed fabrication information from the model
The main resort building roof structure was curved in both directions and the resort suites had a twisted roof which provided a challenge to not only model but to produce workshop drawings that included relevant information for fabrication. This complexity also led to the model being used to design connections, as it was clear to see what needed to be done once the members were modeled in. The Tekla model was also used by the architect for checking ceiling heights by importing into Microstation and the glazier used the 3D DWG export for detailing the glass façade. In the project, the Tekla model was used for design, detailing, erection planning and follow-up, project scheduling and communication, an importing reference models from other software. The utilization of the super assembly feature was something that made the detail drawings a lot clearer and easier to understand.

Solar panel, Germany

Vollack Bautechnik GmbH & Co. KG

Contribution to renewable energy
The 15 meter solar panel was constructed and built as part of the new steel fabrication plant of Vollack GmbH & Co. KG in Karlsruhe, Germany. Altogether three solar panels that were modeled and detailed in Tekla Structures software contribute to renewable energy. The whole construction process was fulfilled by Vollack, from design and construction to fabrication and erection.

Following the sun in strong wind
The solar collectors were installed on the curved surface of solar panel. The Steel-concrete solar panels follow the sun and turn automatically in the wind stronger than speed rate 7. The project was started in January 2010 and finished in April 2010. In the project, the Tekla model was utilized for design, detailing, automatic fabrication, erection planning and follow-up, as well as project communication.

Spaceport America, USA

Consteel Technical Services

Spaceport Terminal Hanger Facility ( THF ) is part of Spaceport America, " the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport ". Located near the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

THF comprises 2 floors to east and west sides with a curvilinear bridge linking together the upper floors. The roof is multi-faceted and supported from the 4 main concrete stair towers and steel columns. Main roof comprises 12 segmented main trusses ( max 295'-0 span ) with secondary trusses, sway bracing and purlins to form the interface with the composite roof skin. Around the roof perimeter is a complex bull nose frame with an embedded gutter and an outer radial profile to form a smooth transition. Central low roof area has a glazed perimeter inside of the main hanger above the bridge.

View entries - Steel projects