Since its inception, investing in the latest technology at Lynas Engineers has always been a must. As such, over the last couple of years the business has invested in excess of £60K in the latest civil engineering solutions.
We have taken the opportunity to do a Q&A with our Civil Design Engineer, Matt Taylor – who uses this on a day to day basis – to explain more about our investment:
What is the technology that you use?
The business has implemented the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) Collection, an Autodesk product and in particular we use tools including Infraworks, Civil 3D and Navisworks, as well as Microdrainage for undertaking drainage and flood modelling. It is relatively unheard of for a civil engineering company of our size to invest in such sophisticated technology – it is normally associated with much larger firms. However, it was absolutely essential for us to have this in place from the start in order to deliver the very best service.
What capabilities does this solution provide?
Through having innovative technology at our fingertips, we can very easily and effectively demonstrate our civil engineering detailed designs. We connect preliminary design ideas and take these all the way through to detailed engineering solutions whilst also integrating other disciplines, such as architectural and structural designs. The integrated BIM and CAD workflows helps to increase both productivity and collaboration.
How does it benefit your clients and your work?
Our technology means that our clients can visualise a scheme from the very offset – something which they continue to mention how useful they find this. Having early involvement with our clients on the development of any scheme makes the full process much more streamlined through the ability to put into perspective the proposed schemes. Our software also allows us to make changes and adapt designs very easily. As such, we save our clients both time and money in the long run. As a team we can also be more adaptable with our approach to developing our innovative and creative engineering solutions when solving complex construction challenges.
How many projects have you used Autodesk for?
It our standard approach for all our projects that require 3D modelling and micro drainage. We have used the software on simple projects such as drainage bunding and earthworks schemes right through to more complex multifaceted infrastructure designs. One of the best examples Lynas has is a project we undertook to redesign the A66 Cargofleet Roundabout redesign where we used all elements within the Autodesk suite. We used Infraworks (and 3DS Max) for visualisation of the scheme and Civils 3D combined with Microdrainage for detailed design. For clash checks with existing stats we also used Navisworks.
Thank you Matt for taking the time to chat through our innovative technology. If you would like to see it first hand in action, we have some great videos here.
