It’s pop quiz time – what is predicted to be the world’s top infrastructure segment in terms of investment?  Is it roads, rail, ports, airports, power, water or telecommunications?  According to the McKinsey Global Institute, roads are at the top, followed by power (see chart below).

As population and traffic increases around the world, the need to build new or rehabilitate existing transportation systems continues to grow and the projects are becoming larger and more complex. At the same time, funding levels have continued to drop.  There’s no time or money that can be wasted relying on out-dated 2D paper plans and proposals to gain approval and consensus on roadway projects. When it comes to aligning technical and non-technical stakeholders on the best design option to pursue,  charts on easels and 2D plans only engineers can understand just will not cut it anymore.

Roads top the list of infrastructure demand globally, according to a McKinsey Global Institute recent report

In part, it’s this urgent need to dramatically accelerate the bid, proposal and preliminary design processes and manage the scale for all infrastructure projects that led Autodesk to roll out Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro last month, a one-of-a-kind software solution that combines desktop, mobile and cloud-based technologies designed to fundamentally change the way infrastructure projects are planned, designed, built and maintained.  And now, to help address the world’s most costly infrastructure challenge, Autodesk is introducing Autodesk Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 Pro.

Exclusively for users of Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro, Autodesk Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 Pro is designed to advance Building Information Modeling (BIM) for infrastructure workflows by helping civil engineering professionals working on road and highway projects more effectively explore preliminary design options and optimize project performance by engineering roadway geometry in the context of the existing environment.

Autodesk Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 Pro advances BIM workflows by taking advantage of the robust, data-rich model created by aggregating virtually unlimited amounts of data from wide ranging inputs, such as BIM, LiDAR, GIS, CAD and photos in InfraWorks 360 Pro.  Road and highway projects of nearly unlimited scale and complexity can be designed and engineered in the context of the existing environment.  Using the data-rich model as the canvas in which to perform engineering tasks improves design processes when working on small, medium and even the largest, city-scale projects.  Users can reach a bigger audience, including technical and non-technical project stakeholders, to quickly and efficiently explore and communicate engineered design alternatives, all within a compelling 3D environment.

Autodesk Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 Pro offers advantages beyond traditional CAD and GIS platforms enabling key software features and capabilities including:

• Intersections, road corridors, terrain and roadway structures can be authored and edited in the context of the existing environment.  Using the 3D model created via Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro, intelligent roadway objects, not simply CAD elements that represent roadway components, are added to enrich the 3D infrastructure model.
• Civil engineering teams can streamline horizontal and vertical roadway geometry layout, including the design of intersections, using a powerful, rules-based toolset.  This rules-based environment enables designers of a roadway to automatically comply to design standards, such as speed based design rules and minimum turning radius, as defined by local transportation authorities.
• Safety requirements can be factored in early in project development by analyzing stopping sight distance, identifying sight distance failure zones, demonstrating desired and actual sight envelopes and identifying causes for driver sight obstructions using a 3D model versus the traditional methods that consider only two-dimensional geometric roadway elements.
• Roadway design alternatives can be evaluated in less time, using Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro cloud services such as profile optimization.
• Engineered infrastructure data and intelligence is retained in a scalable and accessible data model enabling multi-office stakeholder collaboration.  Design alternatives can be more effectively documented and shared via desktop or mobile devices using Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro cloud services.

The entire design process is accelerated with the ability to seamlessly import the preferred design alternative generated using the newly released Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 Pro directly into Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D software to continue detailed design work within a BIM workflow.

Create intersection geometry using standard design vehicles

Consider safety requirements early in project development by analyzing sight distances

In keeping with Autodesk’s announcement today regarding new pay-as-they-go options for all Autodesk Design and Creation Suites, Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro and new Autodesk Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 Pro will be available on a quarterly or annual basis.

For more about Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro visit the Autodesk InfraWorks product center. Additional information about the new Autodesk Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 Pro is expected to be available on the Autodesk InfraWorks product center beginning 16 September.

For more information about the Autodesk Suites, including Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite, Autodesk Plant Design Suite and others, which are now available on a pay-as-you-go monthly, quarterly or annual access plans, please see www.autodesk.com/pay-as-you-go.

In related transportation industry news, Autodesk recently announced the acquisition of technology assets from Savoy Computing Services, including AutoTrack, a suite of software for vehicle swept path analysis and the design of parking areas and roundabouts.