The renovation and expansion project of the Beijing-Harbin Expressway section is a key development in connecting and facilitating transportation between provinces. It helps promote the construction of the China-Russia free trade zone, provides guaranteed access for the Longjiang Luhai Silk Road Economic Belt, implements the development plan of the Harbin-Changchun Megalopolis, and promotes the development and revitalization of northeast China. 

The Office of the Renovation and Expansion Project of the Beijing-Harbin Expressway Section from Lalin River to Harbin, Heilongjiang Construction Technological Innovation & Investment Co., Ltd. was tasked with helping complete this crucial project, which will promote the State Council’s 13th five-year plan for developing a modern comprehensive transportation system. However, the project was particularly complex, as it spans across a total of 71 kilometers, and needed to be designed to support cars traveling at speeds of 120 kilometers per hour. Constructing an expressway at this length is challenging due to its high difficulty of implementation, complex technical requirements, and the impediments to maintaining a stable construction schedule due to the region’s harsh climate. Moreover, the highway had to maintain operations while it was expanded to eight lanes in one of the busiest roadways in Heilongjiang.

Challenge

To overcome these considerable challenges, the office realized that they needed to implement the right 4D digital technology to ensure successful project completion. 

They began looking for a solution that would help them maintain traffic flow on the expressway and carry it out in the absence of a complete set of successful technical experiences related to the design, construction, and management of the highway renovation and expansion project in the high latitude seasonal freezing area in China. The project also had to fully implement the concept of a green highway.

Breakthrough

After searching through a number of software options, they decided that Bentley’s digital applications would be the best solution to comprehensively solve construction modeling problems, establish a scientific and reasonable construction schedule, and analyze all material requirements in their actual placement in the construction process. 

SYNCHRO 4D construction and design modeling helped the office simulate the site layout, construction equipment position and hoisting, and the walking route. SYNCHRO allowed them to achieve visualization of on-site scheduling and safety planning, analyze potential construction difficulties, and formulate the design and construction plan in a scientific, reasonable manner.

They also leveraged SYNCHRO to analyze the material requirements and actual placement in the construction process. Additionally, the application helped them reduce the waste of rating each machine from each team caused by the secondary material reshipment. SYNCHRO also helped them simultaneously generate planned cost and resource analysis reports based on the actual use of materials, as well as visually display the project status, improve communication efficiency, and reduce management costs.

“SYNCHRO’s innovative capabilities promote data-driven project management and help enterprises accumulate and analyze standard data, achieving the goal of project digital management,” said Yang Ye, general manager of the BIM technology division, Office of the Renovation and Expansion Project of the Beijing-Harbin Expressway Section from Lalin River (Boundary between Jilin Province and Heilongjiang Province) to Harbin, Heilongjiang Construction Technological Innovation & Investment Co., Ltd.

Outcome

Overall, implementing Bentley’s 4D digital solutions helped the team comprehensively analyze the construction work surfaces, material production transportation capacities, and the rationality of the construction scheme, allowing them to carry out the project in an effective and timely manner. Bentley’s SYNCHRO gave the office the necessary applications to optimize their construction period and improve the overall management and control of their project schedule.

The applications helped the team improve their design efficiency by 20% and, with the use of SYNCHRO 4D, boost management efficiency by 15% and improve collaboration by 45%. With SYNCHRO’s real-time sharing of management data, they were able to save more than CNY 10 million in material waste and more than CNY 5 million in labor and machine costs.