Civil Engineering September 2022 | Vol 30 No 8

40 September 2022 Civil Engineering T he College Park Airport, established in 1909 and situated in Maryland, USA, is the world’s oldest airport still in operation. Fast forward to today, and the evolution of airport design and functionality has been substantial, with airports having far greater capacity, func- tionality, technology, and modern elegance. With air travel being more prominent and accessible, challenges arise that may not have been encountered in the past, and which require innovative solutions. BIM is one of these solutions. AUTOMATED PEOPLE MOVER PROJECT One of the biggest challenges faced in airports is the increasing number of pas- sengers, and how best to apply systems and procedures to manage this influx in a systematic, efficient way. This led Los Angeles World Airports, the governing body of LAX, to issue a request for proposals for the design and construction of a new Automated People Mover (APM) train system in 2017. The APM is valued at $2 billion and is estimated to carry up to 87 million passengers per year, con- sisting of a 3.6 m elevated guideway that passes through five stations and links the consolidated rental car facility with the LAX central terminal area. The design encompasses the train guideway, stations, elevators and escalators, elevated passenger walkway structures (with moving walkways between stations and airport terminals), parking structures, roadway and landscape improvements, and a maintenance and storage facility for the system’s electric trains. When operational in 2023, it will also connect travellers to regional bus and light rail systems. The project consists of 37 partner design firms across five different time zones, 300+ BIM designers with various specialisations of work, and 180+ actively maintained design models. By using connected BIM and a common data environment, the team was able to do 3D clash detection, 4D phasing, visualisation, and 5D estimating, thereby improving communication between teams and stake- holders and exposing constructability issues during design rather than in the field, with enhanced coordination across multiple design platforms. ISTANBUL GRAND AIRPORT Another project that impressively ap- plied BIM is the Istanbul Grand Airport, covering 76.5 million m 2 . Once complete (projected for 2025), the airport will serve up to 200 million travellers annually, with six runways supporting 3 500 take-offs and landings as well as access to more than 350 destinations. Dubbed as “the world’s largest airport from scratch with BIM”, BIM solutions were used across the project lifecycle such as planning, design, fabrication, construction, as well as opera- tions and maintenance. The project involves 30 000 people working on the site each day, with effec- tive communication and collaboration of critical importance. With a project of this scale, a 30-month BIM plan was imple- mented, mandating the use of BIM solu- tions by architects, engineers and contrac- tors. This resulted in effective coordination I nformat i on technology BIM for airports Shuaib Yunos BIM Technical Specialist: Civil Infrastructure Baker Baynes shuaib@bakerbaynes.com Airports are an integral infrastructure requirement for countries and locales. This article looks at how BIM has been applied on two airport projects to solve complex challenges and provide innovative solutions, as well as possible applications for current and/or future airport projects here in South Africa. Istanbul Grand Airport (Source: Kulttuurinavigaattori, CC BY-SA 4.0)