Why is BIM a Proven Solution for Airport Construction? [Infographic]

Increasing traffic, improving airport operations and enhancing passenger experience are critical to increasing airport revenues. BIM services play a huge role in building airports within scheduled time and budget.

Large and complex airport spaces require meticulous designing and construction planning. A single flaw, missed detail or lack of interdisciplinary coordination can result in rework and high construction and operating costs. BIM is a matchless construction technology to overcome such challenges and ensure a seamless construction process.

Three dimensional visualization, scheduling and sequencing of activities, cost estimation and clash detection capabilities of BIM give it a competitive advantage over traditional construction methods. Therefore, whether it is new construction or a renovation project, BIM´s collaborative approach puts construction planning on a sound footing, enhancing project efficiencies.

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Why is BIM important for airport design and construction?

Airports are multifaceted construction projects and require extensive planning and coordination. Massive space requirements, unique passenger needs, multiple utilities and complex airport operations are challenges that construction managers and stakeholders must address to ensure that the buildings meet requirements.

BIM helps meet these construction challenges. It enhances communication, coordination and helps in reducing project time and costs. Visualization capabilities of BIM help plug potential problems and conflicts during pre-construction phase.

Top 4 challenges in airport construction

Planning large and complex spaces

The average time spent by air travelers in an airport terminal is 108 minutes. This includes long walking distances for travelers, which often poses a challenge.

High construction and operating costs

Constructing and maintaining a huge 24/7 operational facility is expensive and require constant renovation. At the same time, ensuring that airport services are uninterrupted during renovation and expansion also gets challenging.

Coordinating with large project teams

Lack of communication between teams and disciplines often result in stakeholders not being on the same page in terms of proper resource allocation at various stages of construction. This leads to loss of time, cost and effort.

Design errors resulting in duplication and rework

Even a single error or flaw in the design or planning of airports can result in duplication and rework. This ultimately leads to huge losses in terms of finance and resources.

Benefits of using BIM for airport construction

• Better space planning with 3D BIM visualization
• Greater interdisciplinary and cross functional team collaboration
• Enhanced scheduling & sequencing with 4D BIM
• Accurate 5D BIM-based budgets for construction & operating costs
• Point cloud to detailed 3D BIM models enables better renovation
• Enhanced design visualization with AR/VR technology & BIM walkthroughs
• Better sustainability and airport management with 6D &7D BIM

BIM success stories

• BIM adoption at the new midfield terminal for the Abu Dhabi airport helped the design team save over 51,000 working hours and $1 Million.
• Mexico city’s new international airport project team observes that they would have to hire 1.5 times more staff to produce the project drawings without BIM.
• The gatwick airport in London saved $26 Million during its 30-year life by implementing BIM.
• The use of BIM for Denver airport expansion used a centralized coordinated BIM model for electronic file sharing with iPads and saved on paper usage.
• San Diego international airport saved $8 Million in construction costs by implementing BIM.

Conclusion

Adopting BIM means ensuring that airport construction is effectively planned, designed and completed within budget and schedule. It also serves to be very important in improving airport operations and creating a satisfying experience for passengers by enabling stakeholders to keep terminals running smoothly 24/7.

BIM’s features of enhanced 3D design visualization brings clarity to teams and stakeholders by keeping them on the same page and enhancing communication and coordination between disciplines. Contractors can use BIM services to gain quick wins like complexity management, improved collaboration, visualization, time and cost forecasting. All these features and more make BIM the most feasible solution for airport design and construction.