PiVDC Tools Used in Lusail Stadium Project

Providing Certainty and Saving Thousands of Hours

Automation tools are revolutionizing the way construction projects are carried out. In an industry where time translates to money and errors lead to fatal consequences, automation add-ins for BIM software are helping VDC professionals whip up projects faster, smoother, and with fewer lumps than ever before.

PiVDC, Pinnacle Infotech’s home-grown suite of automation tools, is one such solution for VDC professionals. PiVDC offers automation add-ins for Revit and Navisworks Manage versions 2019-2024. These add-ins automate repetitive and tedious tasks from modeling to prefabrication and everything in between, eliminating errors and promoting seamless workflow.

In this article, we'll walk through how Pinnacle Infotech's PiVDC helped in the smoother execution of BIM operations during the construction of the iconic Lusail Stadium.

About the Project

The Lusail Stadium, an exemplary feat of architecture, engineering, and technology, stands as one of the most renowned sports facilities worldwide. The stadium's construction has garnered global recognition as a testament to quality, innovation, and technology.

With 80,000 seating, the project is inspired by traditional cultural elements and features a unique roof resembling a dhow boat. It is equipped with cutting-edge technology, including an innovative cooling system, ensuring comfort for players and spectators even in the hot Qatari summer.

While the Lusail stadium is undoubtedly a marvel, the process of its construction and execution was far from simple. Imagine juggling 1400+ BIM models, managing a logistic area spanning over 1 million square meters, and ensuring timely delivery of materials during a pandemic - it was a mammoth task! But PiVDC automation add-ins came to the rescue. The add-ins to automate hanger layout, element splitting, aligning, spool generation, annotation, family browsing, and other accelerated modeling, coordination, shop drawing, and prefabrication, ensuring quality, efficiency, and timely delivery.

 

PiVDC Scope of Work

Pinnacle Infotech was entrusted with the BIM modeling and coordinating the Lusail Stadium project. Pinnacle's scope of work included generating 3D BIM models for the architecture, MEP, and structural engineering trades, along with clash detection and coordination of the models. The project team also developed shop drawings, as-built drawings, and data sheets.

While providing the BIM solution on this iconic project, Pinnacle Infotech used PiVDC tools to update parameter values of multiple elements, divide elements into smaller parts, join or offset elements at different elevations, manage gaps between pipes or ducts, create section boxes, place multiple hangers automatically, and map properties of one Revit element to another. These tools have significantly improved the efficiency and accuracy of the project, reducing the time required for modeling and increasing the quality of the final product.

Challenges and Solutions

Any AEC project is not without significant challenges, and constructing a stadium as grand as Lusail comes with its fair share of challenges.

Challenge:
The need to manage and manipulate a large number of elements.

Solution:
PiVDC's Split Tool and Multi Join add-ins allowed elements to be divided into smaller parts and joined together in one go. Further, the Import Excel add-in allowed updating parameter values of multiple elements at once, saving time and increasing efficiency. The Import Excel tool was used 4,382 times, while Split and Multijoin tools were used about 800 and 230 times.

Challenge:
The need to maintain consistency and accuracy in the model.

Solution:
Our quality checking tools, namely Validate Bend Angle, ensured that pipes and ducts maintained standard angles throughout the model, keeping the quality in check and saving hundreds of hours

Challenge:
The need to place thousands of hangers.

Solution:
PiVDC hanger tools helped in the automatic placement of multiple hangers over Revit as well as fabrication elements in one go, significantly speeding up the process and ensuring accuracy. These tools were used 374 times, placing 5,000+ hangers.

Challenge:
Avoiding clashes in such a complicated project.

Solution:
The Multioffset and MEP offset tools for Revit and Clash optimizer tool for Navisworks, which help offset multiple elements group similar clashes, were used 280 and 340 times during the project workflow, ensuring seamless coordination.

Challenge:
Managing the point cloud visibility and thousands of families.

Solution:
PiVDC’s Point Cloud manager helped easily manage the point clouds of Revit project files by providing different colors as per their intensity. While the Family browser tool helped find and browse Revit families quickly by providing the list of all the families, their detailed views, and previews in one location and allowing to place the families in the Revit model with just a click. These add-ins were used 496 and 224 times, respectively, optimizing operations.

Challenge:
Managing millions of elements and billions of parameters to generate Cobie data for digital twin

Solution:
Intersected Properties and Import Excel tools helped save a great deal of time while generating Cobie data. The former helped automatically update parameters in intersected elements, while the latter helped populate all the element properties into Revit directly from an Excel sheet, making Cobie data generation easier and quicker.

Challenge:
Using the 2016 Revit version from 2017 to 2022

Solution:
PiVDC tools work equally well in older Revit versions as in the latest ones. PiVDC add-ins filled the technological gap of using a 2016 Revit version for five years by streamlining and accelerating workflow with automation.

Helping our customers and increasing project efficiency is our ultimate goal. So, if your project requires you to use older Revit versions, we’re here to help.

The Bottomline

Overall, a total of 31 PiVDC add-ins were used 2,995 times, processing 3,423,200 elements. They saved about 25,000-30,000 hours (18% of total project time) and 10-25% cost in the Lusail project. The use of these add-ins has provided certainty and improved the efficiency and accuracy of the project. These tools have helped address critical challenges faced during the project lifecycle, ensuring that the project was completed with quality and within the stipulated time frame.

The Journey

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