In a new study The Business Value of BIM for Infrastructure 2017 released by Dodge Data & Analytics it was found that BIM implementation for transportation infrastructure projects has grown dramatically in the last two years. Dodge surveyed engineers and contractors in France, Germany, the UK and the US. Three quarters of the respondents reported that they had used BIM on transportation projects. Dodge measured the change in BIM implementation by asking respondents what proportion of their transportation projects involved BIM. The chart shows how many of the respondents used BIM on 50% or more of their projects in 2015, are using BIM on 50% or more in 2017, and expect to use BIM on 50% in 2019. It reveals a dramatic increase in BIM in the last two years. The increase is expected to continue though at a slower rate.
Of those repondents who reported using BIM nearly 90% said that they had seen positive benefits from it. The top five benefits reported by over 50% of respondents are
- improved ability to show younger staff how projects go together
- offering services
- establishing consistent and repeatable project delivery processes
- maintaining business with past clients
- less time documenting and more time designing.
The top ways that BIM improved project processes are
- fewer errors which includes reduced conflicts/field coordination problems during construction and reduced errors and omissions
- greater cost predictability and better understanding of the project
- better multiparty communication and understanding from 3D visualization
- reduced costs
- reduced rework
- improved schedule performance
- design optimization.
Most respondents had not quantified the return on investment from using BIM but nearly two thirds reported their perception that they had got a positive ROI from their investment in BIM. About one quarter believe that the ROI from their investment in BIM is 25% or more.
One quarter of the survey respondents do not use BIM in any way for transportation infrastructure, but it is interesting that the survey revealed that their attitude toward BIM is generally positive – two thirds reported that they were open to BIM or were actively evaluating it.
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