“Our purpose is to facilitate and bring together the built environment community within the greater Brisbane region, to share and exchange thoughts and knowledge in respect to technology innovation across the industry.”

By Phil Shanks

ACMA Secretary

 

http://brisbim.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:groupPost:4804268-6548728166507208704/

I’m finally finding my feet as sponsorship manager on the committee of BrisBIM, It’s taken a number of events this year to get into the swing of things.

The last two events have had record numbers of attendees, it would appear that the interest in this event is rising and it needs to be said that the quality of presentation delivered is probably the highest I’ve seen at any BIM related event.

On the 19th of June, the theme of the event was Infrastructure, with the sponsor being 12D. I met with Dr Lee Gregory and Lincoln Smith from 12D weeks prior to the event to secure their sponsorship. Coming from a structural background myself, I don’t know a great deal about civil and how they document drawings and models. Lee explained much of this to me, and on the night as part of his lead in presentation, explained the differences between civil and structural documents as well as civil’s place in IFC format. I found this event thoroughly interesting and PDC’s presentation at the end, on the work they are doing for Cross River rail, seemed to me to be world class. Its great seeing a Steel Detailing company using their expertise to push the industry forward and capture the audience’s attention in such a way.
http://pdcgroup.com/news/news-article/pdcs-bim-recoginsed-by-the-queensland-government

In April of this year the theme of the event was LOD (Level Of Detail), a contentious topic and once again, the attendance was at record highs. There are so many mixed feelings with regard to LOD and I am one to certainly get frustrated when I see LOD values written into project specifications with no detailed qualification on what they are to represent. So many BIM execution plans seem to be making reference to LOD and other construction related metrics, for what appears to be for the sake of it rather than really mapping out guidelines for the project team. Its little wonder that many in the AEC industry are rubbishing LOD, when in fact if qualified can be a very useful method of identification. I don’t believe LOD is going away, quite the contrary, I believe that the industry is simply struggling to utilise it effectively, and with speakers like Dr Marzia Bolpagni from Mace in the UK, who was live streamed in to the April BrisBIM event, we have a chance in Australia to see what they are doing in Europe with LOD.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marzia-bolpagni/detail/recent-activity/posts/

The committee of BrisBIM come from all aspects of the AEC industry, they are committed, passionate and well connected. I hope to see you at the next event. Trust me, it’s well worth it. The events are at QUT bi-monthly, they are free to attend and they serve food, beer and wine!

Linkedin Articles of interest

1. Steel Detailing and concrete forms
   https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6546384319701757952/
2. Laser scanning
   https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/laser-scan-surveys-steel-fabrication-ian-brightman/

3. Scanning and construction
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm8XBZ7l6hg&t=161s

4. Steel Fabrication and Construction Network
   https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13617350/

5. Multi story surveying
   https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/multi-storey-high-rise-spire-surveying-philip-shanks/

BIM in Government

Finally, the QLD State Government and the Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning have developed a BIM implementation plan. Following on from consultation with Industry and BIM representative bodies such as BrisBIM, for feedback on a range of areas the plan was to cover, a document has been drafted and is in the public domain.

https://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/infrastructure/building-information-modelling-bim.html

“All major government construction projects with an estimated capital cost of $50 million or more, which commence a detailed business case from 1 July 2019, will be required to use Building Information Modelling in accordance with the principles.”

It’s about time!

Added to this (and one of the benefits of attending BrisBIM events), one of the speakers at the June event was Brian McSweeny, the BIM Implementation Manager for TMR (Transport and Main Roads). Brian outlined the vision TMR have for implementing BIM in their organisation and was open about the complexity of introducing such drastic changes in large organisations.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-mcsweeney-1021073b/?originalSubdomain=au

As Steel Detailers it’s difficult for many of us to understand why it takes so long for organisations and government to keep up with progress because we were the early adopters of BIM, because the manufacturing sector of construction has been digitized for decades. It’s probably not such a bad thing that it’s taken so long, as much of the AEC industry is now practicing BIM and it’s likely no one in the industry who doesn’t know what an IFC file is these days! If government and the likes of TMR take up BIM now, they have a far better chance of getting it right and making their project requirements fit for purpose as the foundations for BIM in industry have already been set by the likes of Construction Modellers.

The new ASI Steel Innovation Portal went live late last year at https://innovate.steel.org.au/. The portal is designed to positively connect industry with Australian research institutions by displaying the world-class steel-related research that is currently underway. The ASI has more than 20 universities registered on the portal, with the process of loading up projects and researcher details well underway.

The Winter edition of the Steel Australia magazine included an article introducing the ACMA to the wider steel construction industry. We’d like to thank the ASI for their continued support in raising the profile of Construction Modellers and Steel Detailers around the Nation.

See articles below:
Steel Australia – Winter 2019 – ACMA
Steel Australia Magazine – Winter 2019

This last weekend saw a group of DBM/PDC work colleagues descend on Western Australia’s Great Southern region for their annual hiking trip in the Stirling Ranges

The Stirling Ranges boasts some of the best hiking trails in WA and walks that cater for all capabilities from easy walking grade hillside trails, to 2 to 3 hour rock scrambling, steep incline mountain type hiking

PDC have continued this weekend away as a tradition for many many years and this year celebrated its 20th year anniversary with a fantastic attendance by 25 of the Perth staff plus a special guest Phil Shanks from Steelcad Qld who had in the past also attended and was invited to this special anniversary

This year also saw the first ever year that they had timed the weekend to fall when the expected extreme cold weather was to have snow falling on the high mountain tops, giving them to rare chance for West Australians to experience snow on top of Bluff Knoll, one of WA’s highest peaks

The weekend was attended by varying staff members from general managers, senior management, admin staff to junior and new team members

Everyone enjoyed the time away from work bonding in a relaxed team environment, and also enjoying sharing many a story around the campfire of the walks undertaken during the day. Many had already signed up for next year’s trip before the weekend was over

Well done to PDC and we hope they do continue this fine tradition for many more years to come.

Port of Brisbane has announced the principal contractors for its $158 million Brisbane International Cruise Terminal, paving the way for construction to begin in the coming months.

Wharf construction will be undertaken by Brady Marine & Civil, a specialist marine infrastructure and engineering contractor headquartered in Brisbane.

The civil works and terminal building will be delivered by Hindmarsh, a leading Australian construction company.

This project is expected to contribute $1.3 billion in net expenditure into the Brisbane economy over the next twenty years with an estimated 245 jobs during construction.

Queenslanders are eagerly awaiting the opening of the terminal next year, which will be ready for the 2020 cruising season.

Port of Brisbane CEO Roy Cummins said the tender process had attracted a high-quality field, but ultimately the successful contractors provided the right mix of expertise, capabilities and value for money for the project.

Hindmarsh has a strong track record for innovation and project delivery, together with the proven experience and capabilities required to deliver this world-class cruise facility.

Click here to view the Hindmarsh website.

Mr Cummins said early preparation for the wharf had already begun, with ABFI Steel Group (a local Brisbane-based company) undertaking the task of manufacturing 105 piles, up to 45m long, needed to support the wharf.

Piling is expected to commence soon, with wharf construction to follow.

Visit Port of Brisbane’s website for more information.