Structural Engineering Finalists in the 2023 Going Digital Awards in Infrastructure Featured

The annual awards program honors the extraordinary work of Bentley software users advancing infrastructure design, construction, and operations throughout the world. Twelve independent jury panels, representing 12 award categories, selected the 36 finalists from over 300 nominations submitted by 235 organizations from 51 countries.

Representatives from the finalists’ organizations will present their projects to a panel of independent judges to determine the winners and meet with global press and industry executives at the 2023 Year in Infrastructure and Going Digital Awards event, which will be held at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, October 11-12, 2023.

HYUNDAI ENGINEERING: Automated Design Of Civil And Architectural Structures With STAAD API

Location: Seoul, South Korea 

Project Playbook: STAAD

To effectively respond to frequent design changes for steel frame construction planning of chemical and electrical power plants, Hyundai Engineering sought to streamline information exchange and automate design. They focused their efforts on shelter and pipe rack designs for these plants, where existing design processes required manual, time-consuming application and calculation of structural loads that were error-prone and resulted in countless design changes. Hyundai Engineering sought to use 3D modeling and intelligent digital workflows to develop an effective system for providing accurate design information, improving the performance of structures. 

Partnering with Bentley, they used STAAD to automate design and expanded its application using artificial intelligence (AI) to create designs through machine learning predictions. The integrated digital solution accelerated front-end engineering design by 30%. Applying AI to shelter design processes, Hyundai Engineering accumulated a database of 1,680 scenarios, generating 27 million prediction models. The automatic civil engineering structure design system converts design information into a 3D model for real-time synchronization to predict maintenance and improvement work of buildings, which can be used for similar tasks in the future.

L&T CONSTRUCTION: Construction Of 318 MLD (70 MGD) Wastewater Treatment Plant At Coronation Pillar, Delhi

Location: New Delhi, India

Project Playbook: STAAD

Coronation Pillar is a new wastewater treatment plant in New Delhi, treating 318 million liters a day of sewage while reducing annual carbon emissions by approximately 14,450 tons. L&T Construction delivered the large-scale project that required multiple structures to be designed and constructed within a confined site amid liquefaction and seismic risks. Realizing that manual design and analysis methods would be ineffective to ensure optimal structural results, L&T needed dynamic 3D modeling and structural analysis technology. 

They selected STAAD to model multiple designs with various loading configurations and applications, achieving a land savings of 17.8% and reinforced cement concrete material savings of 5%, reducing both the project’s physical and carbon footprints. Using Bentley’s application, L&T Construction quickly analyzed different structural designs, reducing the time to arrive at an optimal solution by 75%, compared to manual design approaches. The digital structural approach applied during this project serves as a benchmark, resulting in significant added value across other L&T Construction projects.

RISE STRUCTURAL DESIGN, INC.: Dhaka Metro Rail Line 1

Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh 

Project Playbook: STAAD, STAAD Advanced Concrete Design

As part of Bangladesh’s strategic plan to provide sustainable transport, accommodating the growing urban population in the capital city of Dhaka, three mass transit systems have been proposed, the first of which is MRT-1. Upon completion, MRT-1 will be the country’s first underground metro line. RISE is designing the stations along MRT-1 and faced challenges given the unique steel roof geometry and interaction with and transmission of stresses in the reinforced concrete structures. To deliver the multidiscipline design and ensure compatibility of the different station elements, RISE needed to perform accurate digital structural simulation and analysis.  

They selected STAAD and STAAD Advanced Concrete Design to model and analyze the steel roof structure and reinforced concrete stresses, establishing a collaborative digital environment while optimizing structural design in accordance with relevant design codes. Bentley’s integrated structural modeling and analysis software improved data synchronization by 50% and reduced modeling time by 30%. RISE saved 10% to 15% in concrete volume, reducing the carbon footprint of the project, and completed the designs on schedule allowing for construction to begin in February 2023.