For the first time in over 35 years, a new rail network is being constructed throughout Sydney. Part of this project was the design of the Chatswood Quad, a 1.2-kilometer rail corridor linking the north-west rail metro into the main interchange at Chatswood from the lower north shore component of the Sydney Metro Program.
While the corridor was short in length, the works were extremely complex, requiring the integration of historic brownfield elements. The project involved all major civil disciplines including rail alignment, combined services routes, civil structures and bridges, signaling, electrical, mechanical and power.
We provided Transport for New South Wales with solutions that not only met its digital engineering interim controls framework which we co-authored, but also provided additional requirements for the project construction team Laing O’Rourke. This resulted in creation of a fully federated BIM model – a combined digital model showing each discipline in relation to one another across the entire project.
We used gaming engine technology to encourage deeper discussion of core design thinking, in what was essentially a 3D digital prototype of the physical works. We then created scenes that allowed stakeholders to navigate through this digital model, stop and pivot around, providing a quick visibility of issues and encouraged faster, smarter and better decision-making than usually possible. This approach allowed more agile design, decision-making and aided in quickly resolving issues.
The project showcased innovative design processes using modern digital engineering tools and included significant investment in transforming our people, processes and technology. The standard of digital delivery achieved was commended by all involved and was attributed the gold standard in digital engineering for lineal infrastructure.
