Incorporation of digital ground investigation data and geological model into the 3D BIM environment

Traditionally, geological interpretation is undertaken by manually annotating cross-sections, and updating them when new information becomes available. This is a time-consuming process and goes against the principles of good digital engineering.

A workflow was developed for High Speed Two (HS2) so that raw ground investigation information forms a database that is then used to generate an up-to-date 3D geological BIM model. This model contains the geological strata covering a ∼200m wide corridor along the HS2 alignment. Intelligent geometry represents the borehole sticks used to derive the surfaces, so the user can view the factual data behind the interpretation.

This approach automates the process of geological model updates with low manual effort, based on a series of algorithmic rules, and available on a Common Data Environment (CDE), allowing baselining of versions and easy transfer of information between disciplines.

This offers important time and cost savings to the project as most of the process is automatic, and the result only needs to be quality checked once the model is set up. Having a centralised, intelligent, up-to-date 3D ground model as a single source of truth allows easy access for all design disciplines using ground data, with improved consistency, quality and cost.

This paper discusses each step of the workflow, including how the geological modelling was undertaken. The paper then goes on to describe how the model has been checked, and some of its uses and benefits. Finally, possible future developments are discussed.