Winners of the Digital Construction Award 2024

Category Sponsored by:

As the largest infrastructure project in Wales, construction of the A465 dual carriageway between Dowlais and Hirwaun presents a series of engineering and technical challenges. These include the construction of 17.7km of new on-line dual carriageway, 30 road bridges, 3 footbridges, 28 retaining walls and the movement of 2.2 million m³ of earth all within close proximity to communities.

Co-ordination of such a large-scale undertaking has required Future Valleys Construction (FVC) to develop an industry leading GIS based approach to information management, ensuring the whole team have direct access to the latest design and construction information.  

Their GIS system has been developed specifically to allow data from multiple sources to be combined and accessed within one Portal. Working with their designers, environmental consultants and supply chain has ensured that the GIS is fully compatible with their existing systems, allowing them to work more efficiently in familiar methods. This avoids the need for extensive training to learn new systems promoting increased productivity.

This integrated platform has created a data sharing culture that is driven by their unique GIS portal that acts as a central hub across four areas:

• Management Applications,
• Materials Applications,
• Live data capture direct from site,
• AI applications.

Fully embracing and taking advantage of the multiple benefits that digital collaboration offer is allowing this project to be delivered in multiple locations, with multiple subcontractors in an efficient, controlled, managed and compliant environment.

Specific innovations within the model that are improving record keeping and performance monitoring include:

• Ability to update the GIS model quickly using drone survey imagery,
• Enabling all users to visualise all aspects of the construction with the option to “slide” between images at different points in time,
• Adding drone meshes layers to show in 3D how the works have progressed and could progress at any given location – particularly beneficial to the accurate monitoring and measurement of large-scale earthworks,
• Monitoring the real-time performance of quality and environmental inspections and works completed,
• Integration of AI modelling to quickly identify the location compliance of completed works,
• Ability to take cross sections at any location allowing management teams to instantly review works status.

This information is directly available to all subcontractors on site through a single interface ensuring the fast and accurate planning and communication of complex groundworks and construction works. Traditionally, this would have required thousands of printed plans to be issued and with that came the risk of people working on outdated versions.

Having multiple stakeholders, the Project demands a highly efficient, reliable and flexible approach to making accurate data accessible. Embedding digital collaboration into our operations ensures that they are maximising the use of all their data in a way that stakeholders can use to meet their specific requirements.

This data is being shared with the maintainer to ensure all of information within the GIS will be available throughout the 30-year operation and maintenance period.

Knowledge on the application of these systems is already being shared within Wales and Internationally to promote its benefits.