CIVIL
Report on the Assessment of New Technology in Designing Roads
Graphic Engineering Solutions & Services
(Pty), Ltd.
formats as well as 3D stills and even animated
drive-throughs, which allow lay people to assess
what a proposed road will look like and how it
will affect their property and surroundings.
As part of the project, Project Wise was used to
show the client engineering management of the
engineering environment and a live presentation
was given on the product integrated into project
data. However, it was decided to deliver an inte-
grated Adobe PDF file on DVDs, which would
have a broader exposure to market the concepts
in the report. ;
The purpose of this project was to assess the use
of electronic tools and digital data in road design
and in the presentation and management of preliminary design reports and related design data.
It was carried out using an existing preliminary
design appointment as a basis for the investigation and proforma reporting. The design was for
the K90/K157 road interchange north of
Johannesburg International Airport.
The study found that:
It is now possible to create 3D models of the
design output that can range from fairly simple
to realistic animated models.
With computer technology, engineering
designers can produce the traditional drawing
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CIVIL NEW TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION
MnDOT and Bentley Inspector Stakeout Implementation
Minnesota Department of Transportation
(MnDOT)
The project was to automate and simplify inspection and stakeout functions using mobile devices.
Machine control minimizes staking, making traditional inspection more difficult, so
GPS systems were integrated with
mobile software to solve the problem.
Pilot projects in which inspectors used
GPS systems were completed in
2005. Interfacing with GPS equipment, using wireless equipment, and
adding data collection expanded the
concept into first-generation production software.
electronic engineering data and streamlined
some of its workflow processes by going from
paper to electronic formats in leveraging informa-
tion to the field. Since the user has to log in prior
to inspection or stakeout, the software has an
audit trail of each person and the work he or she
completed, with a time stamp of when it was
done. Information is used to populate electronic
forms (customized to the department’s current
paper forms), but are printed in PDF format. The
time for calculating figures is dramatically
reduced. Since the reports are stored in the proj-
ect, a complete history is done at the end of the
project, and there is no searching for missing
paper reports or documentation buried on the
desk in a field office. ;
By implementing Bentley Inspector
Stakeout software in every district,
MnDOT has improved the flow of
