Norconsult nominated for international technology award for design and construction of Route E39, The Coastal Highway

The nomination is in the category Infrastructure – Medium.

In the contract for E39 Kristiansand west – Mandal east, which is a 19-kilometer (15-mile) stretch of the  1 100-kilometer (680-mile) Coastal Highway project, the new Norwegian road authority New Roads set very high requirements for digital delivery of all relevant project information. This led to groundbreaking innovation, where the contractor AF Gruppen, Norconsult’s subsidiary NoIS and consultant Norconsult established a completely new standard for digital information flow in large infrastructure projects.

- Digitization is one of Norconsult's three strategic focus areas, and it is therefore incredibly exciting to be noticed to such an extent in this area, far beyond Norway's borders. The number of excellent projects internationally is extensive, so we are very proud to once again be among the finalists for this prestigious award. The collaboration with AF Gruppen, NoIS and New Roads in the development of the digital solutions has been exceptional, says Gjermund Dahl, BIM strategist within Infrastructure in Norconsult.

Can retrieve digital reports with near real-time quality

Among other things, New Roads set requirements for a completely new project collaboration tool, where all data generated in the project should be available. With potentially 700 disciplinary models and 300,000 documents in the project, it would be impossible to navigate such large amounts of information with a traditional approach. Therefore, AF Gruppen, NoIS and Norconsult had to think outside the box.

The group chose NoIS's cloud-based data platform, ISY Project, and further developed this to meet the requirements set by New Roads. ISY Project is a comprehensive project management and insight solution that ensures automated data flow for continuous updating of data, with a strong focus on structure and data quality that enables smart filters for easy access to desired information and details.

The ISY Project also has a BIM viewer that makes it possible to access very large 3D models in a web browser. It increases coordination between different disciplines and provides the ability for contractors and the client to access the designs anywhere and at any time with near real-time quality – to follow up everything from risk, progress, HSE and models, to documentation and MOM information (management, operation and maintenance) — even if they are offline or on-site in a tunnel where service isn’t available.

This is the fourth time a Norconsult project has been nominated for the AEC Excellence Awards:

In 2016, the Vamma 12 project won the category “Energy and Natural Resources”.

In 2017, the use of gaming technology on the Ulriken project came in third place.

In 2018, Bane NOR and Norconsult were nominated for developing a method for integrating cost estimation in the preliminary phase, directly into a 3D model.

Norconsult's Marius Jablonskis was nominated in the same year for the Innovator of the Year award.

Projects from around the world

The shortlist of remarkable projects emerged from a field of 260 entries spanning 35 countries. An independent panel of judges selected finalists in three categories—Building Design, Construction, and Infrastructure—including small, medium, and large-sized projects with budgets ranging from less than $1 million to more than $4 billion, demonstrating that innovation happens at every scale, in every corner of the world.

The winners will be announced in October.