CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
13 October 2005
Implementation Investments
South Carolina DOT Wins 2005 BE Award
The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) has won a 2005 BE Award for its North Myrtle Beach Connector project. The award category was "Civil: Visualization." When completed, the project will establish a crucial gateway over the Intracoastal Waterway to the North Myrtle Beach community that will ease congestion and expand opportunities for commerce.
To address concerns of local officials and citizens, SCDOT used MicroStation V8 to develop a complex 3D model of the entire connector project. From the model, SCDOT produced visualizations for display at public meetings. Virtual tours of the model helped communicate proposals for sound walls, placement of sign bridges, and landscaping. Rendered stills and flyover animations effectively explained key details that otherwise would have been difficult to communicate.
"As a result of various view renditions and computer animations of the North Myrtle Beach Connector project generated with MicroStation V8," visualization manager Stephen Meetze explained, "the project became fully supported and was adjusted to resolve concerns that became evident through the design and public involvement process."
"SCDOT was commended on several occasions for the realism of the renditions, and for elaborately involving the public in the decision process," Meetze continued. "Because of the overwhelming response and contribution to the success of this project, visualizations have become a standard part of all major projects at SCDOT."
Every aspect of the connector project was modeled using road and bridge data from GEOPAK civil design software. MicroStation V8's ability to handle files of any size made this enormous project possible without the use of multiple reference files. A single individual at SCDOT, using only one workstation, developed the entire visualization in about a month.
For more information on SCDOT's winning project and all of the other 2005 BE Award projects, visit http://www.be.org/2005beawardwinners . For more information on the Bentley products used in this project, visit http://www.bentley.com/civil .
The South Carolina Department of Transportation's 5,400 employees build and maintain roads and bridges as well as provide mass transit services to the citizens of the state. With nearly 41,500 road miles and 8,300 bridges, South Carolina has the fourth largest state-maintained road system in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.dot.state.sc.us .
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