The Terminal 2B project is part of the major capital investment programme by BAA at Heathrow airport.
The total amount being invested at Heathrow over the five year period that began on 1 April 2008 is approximately £4.8 billion. The key project over this period will be the construction of Terminal 2A (formerly Heathrow East) and its satellite Terminal 2B (formally Midfield Pier) which will replace the current Terminal 2. The new terminal's facilities will be of equivalent standard to Terminal 5, independently recognised as one of the best airport facilities in Europe.
Balfour Beatty, a BAA "Value in Partnership Framework" supplier delivers projects to BAA as a single entity utilising in-house integrated group delivery capability and its established supply chain. Balfour Beatty commenced production design in March 2008 and construction works of T2B phase one on site in June 2008.
Benefits of BIM / VDC
- Minimised risks and support of Balfour Beatty’s Zero Harm approach through simulation of potential threats and planning of works.
- Reviewed and assessed best practices
- Supported safe methods of transport and installation
- Virtual reviews ensured everyone understood requirements, roles/responsibilities and safety issues.
- Utilised as a briefing tool to Project Team and Client/Airport Operations
- Used in conjunction with latest 4D model to show state of build at time of delivery/installation
- Review of intended delivery routing and assessment of clearances
- Assisted in definition/design of temporary works requirements
- Helped develop and understand future maintenance requirements
Contribution of a VDC/BIM solution
BIM was used throughout the design stages of the Heathrow Terminal 2B project and into construction. It is currently being used to visualise the construction program. The transfer of data and models between project team members working in the BIM environment was achieved using a virtual simulation 4D model as a collaboration tool. 4D models containing data for every building element were uploaded to the project information management solution at agreed times in the project as outlined in the BIM Execution Plan. Significant gains were made by the construction team working in this method.
Lessons learnt
Although this system has lead to an extremely well organised, data rich project workflow it does require a high level of technical skill to manage and extract the data amongst the project and construction team.