Transforming the way Sydney moves
06 June 2018
WSP:
Digital tools are powerful in their ability to
foster collaboration, transparency and accountability between project
stakeholders in early design planning to support a result that truly
enhances the customer experience.
For
Sydney Metro City and Southwest as well as
Sydney Metro West, the
adoption of a digital engineering approach has resulted in an
unprecedented level of collaboration and engagement between designers,
clients and stakeholders.
Samantha McWilliam, Design Manager for the projects’ Technical Advisor
role says, “This collaboration has been imperative to ensure we achieved
Transport for
NSW’s philosophy which states that customers are at the centre of
the
Sydney Metro.”
The Sydney Metro Digital Experience
Sydney Metro is currently Australia’s biggest public transport project.
Stage 1 and 2 of the standalone railway will deliver 31 metro stations
and more than 66 km of new metro
rail, transforming the way Sydney
moves. Stage 2, Sydney Metro City and Southwest includes 15.5 km of twin
tunnels along with seven new underground stations between Chatswood and
Sydenham. Finally, Sydney Metro West forms part of the next railway
infrastructure investment. Planning and identification of the number and
location of potential stations began in October 2017.
“With such a large volume of work and information involved across
disciplines, using digital engineering tools in early design has been
significant in managing datasets and visualising design, as well as
improving how the project team and client stakeholders have worked
together to deliver community-centric rail,” adds Ms McWilliam.
Managing Data Collaboration
Each element of design has the potential to influence the way a user
will experience public transport, in turn impacting its efficiency,
safety and overall operation. Being able to manage access to the
multidisciplinary data behind each design element has been paramount.
“Ensuring all teams and stakeholders have access to the latest design
information regardless of their location is key,” adds Ms McWilliam. “On
Sydney Metro City and Southwest, SiteMap, a WSP bespoke web-based GIS
portal, acted as a centralised digital data environment that was always
current, secure and supported access to relevant information by all
disciplines. It formed the basis of the portal, WSP Create, which has
been rolled out in a project specific version for Sydney Metro West.
Additionally, it will be used to host and make available all digital
content produced over the course of the scoping and definition design
phases.
“Overall, these digital tools allow the team to interact with the
designs in a new, quick and cost-effective way. Complex 3D design
constraints can be shown in a user-friendly platform.”
With such an integrated platform,
responding to concerns of information and safety has been crucial. Ms
McWilliam explains, “We developed several permissioned data ‘instances’
using SiteMap to control who can access, use and modify particular data.
Protocols and execution plans are also implemented to control the flow
of design data, the checking and verification process and the publishing
of design information.”
Virtual Customer Experience
As the first fully-automated metro system in Australia, each element of
early design must be carefully coordinated and understood by both the
team as well as the client, and external community consultation groups.
“Traditional methods of 2D design and coordination and client and
stakeholder engagement don’t move fast enough for a project with such a
complex and accelerated design timeline.” Adds Ms McWilliam. “This has
pushed the use of more advanced 3D design
technology.
“It’s important to provide an early feel of design and test spaces and
requirements prior to the designs being locked in.”
While
Virtual Reality has traditionally been considered costly, the team
has balanced this by using cost-effective low rendered models in early
design, later using highly rendered models in stakeholder and executive
engagements to obtain approval for critical design decisions. In
addition to this, by using
Augmented Reality, the team has been able to
assess the visual impacts associated with design solutions –
specifically in the existing brownfields rail environment.
“These tools have enabled us to make fast-paced design decisions, test
and improve designs, as well as communicate complex 3D issues,
options/scenarios and problems to stakeholders,” says Ms McWilliam.
“This has enhanced how we approach early planning and design, and has
evolved the way we collaborate across the board and deliver the vision
of the project – one that has the customer at the centre.”
--ENDS--
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