The company details the potential of digitalization and, in particular, the combination of BIM, GIS and drones in the Lund-Arlöv railway project in Sweden

OHLA presents one of the most innovative railway digitization projects in Europe

October 21, 2022

OHLA has unveiled at the Esri Spain conference, the largest geospatial technology event in Europe, the details of the Lund-Arlöv project (Sweden), where it has carried out one of the most advanced digitization projects in Europe.  

The project, an innovative example of the combined use of BIM methodology, geographic information systems (GIS) and drones, is aimed at improving one of Sweden’s busiest rail routes, with a daily traffic of 450 trains and approximately 60,000 passengers. Upon completion of the works, this capacity will be increased to 650 trains and 80,000 passengers per day.

Manuel Carpintero, BIM Manager at OHLA, and creator of the application, detailed in his presentation the role played by the digital twins, a virtual representation of the real world generated from BIM models, drone images and geographic information systems (GIS), in the construction of this railway section.

Projects such as Lund-Arlöv “are an excellent example of the potential of digitalization in construction and more specifically the symbiosis between BIM, GIS and drones. It is this workflow that OHLA is firmly committed to in its railway works”, according to Manuel Carpintero according to Manuel Carpintero, who will soon participate in Autodesk’s Rail Summit 2022 in Amsterdam to talk about the use of these technologies in civil works.

Specifically, in this contract, the digital twins have been used to visualize, analyze and control all kinds of relevant parameters and processes such as earthworks, best access routes to the work front, site access management, site units, temporary occupations and environmental management, among others.

Access to the data has been carried out through a dashboard, an open application for mobile devices and web viewers, developed by OHLA, which gives access to the information to the people involved in the project. It is a tool that promotes communication and collaboration and allows the project to be viewed as a whole. Its 3-D vision provides a high level of updating and detail of the progress of the work, as well as significant cost savings and agility in decision making. At the peak of the project, more than 300 people have been handling information at the same time.

A benchmark in innovation

OHLA has developed over the last two decades more than 300 R&D&I projects and currently has 12 patent families in force, with presence in 28 territories. The company has more than 100 innovations in works identified and documented and more than 70 projects executed with BIM. The incorporation of new digital and collaborative tools in the development and management of its works has a positive impact in terms of sustainability and productivity, cost optimization and responsible use of material resources.