ESTABLISHING THE LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT (LOD) REQUIREMENTS FOR MODELING IN HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
Bharathwaj Sankaran1 and William J. O’Brien2
1) Graduate Student, Department of Civil Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA.
2) Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor, Department of Civil Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA.
Abstract: Delivering infrastructure projects through model-based workflow is becoming more common in recent years. Understanding the degree of information required for the elements in the model plays a significant role in ensuring its utilization for the intended purpose. Existing definitions of Level of Development (LOD) have helped the building industry to formalize and communicate this vital requirement among major project stakeholders. Although there can be lessons learned from the current literature for LOD in the context of Building Information Models (BIM), the unique characteristics of transportation infrastructure projects necessitate formulation of guidelines adapted to meet their modeling requirements. This paper proposes specifications for LOD in highway projects based on the objectives of modeling. A review of projects is conducted to understand the various applications for which models are developed and used in highway projects. The proposed guidelines are validated with specific examples of projects, demonstrating their practical utility. A modeling matrix is also proposed to guide the LOD documentation process for applying these recommendations in practice. The findings of this study will assist practitioners in standardizing the LOD definitions for highway projects and serve as a foundation for future research in this area.
Keywords: Model-based workflow, BIM, Level of Development (LOD).
Bibliographical Reference:
Bharathwaj Sankaran and William J. O’Brien. “ESTABLISHING THE LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT (LOD) REQUIREMENTS FOR MODELING IN HIGHWAY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.” In Proceedings of International Conference on Civil and Building Engineering Informatics (ICCBEI 2015), 68. Tokyo, Japan, 2015.