3D geological model shortlisted for award 21 Jun 2018

Seequent and Mott MacDonald named Digital Transformation Initiative of the year finalist in British Construction Industry Awards; follows shortlisting in Ground Engineering Awards.

A digital 3D geological modelling system on the Upper Chelburn Impounding Reservoir in the UK which is owned and operated by United Utilities has won recognition for its developers Seequent and Mott MacDonald as a finalist for the British Construction Industry Awards Digital Initiative of the Year.

Section of lake as viewed in Leapfrog

“We are pleased to be recognised for digital transformation alongside Mott MacDonald in these prestigious awards. Our collective goal from the outset was to transform the shape of ground and civil engineering. This is the second industry acknowledgement in as many months as we were also shortlisted for the Technical Innovation Award in the Ground Engineering Awards,” said Daniel Wallace, Seequent General Manager of Civil and Environmental.

Seequent developed the 3D subsurface modelling system Leapfrog Works for civil engineering and environmental industries to better connect the geology to the engineering design and to support the cultural shift towards digitisation and collaborative working.

Launched in February 2018, Leapfrog Works improves understanding, visualisation and communication of ground conditions in infrastructure and groundwater projects to help clients reduce risk and keep projects on time and on budget. Welcomed by the civil engineering, ground engineering and environmental industries it is gathering momentum with increasing user uptake.

Leapfrog Works has been adopted business-wide by the Mott MacDonald global geotechnics practice. The company has used the software on a wide range of projects to pioneer a new way of working in the industry, including major global tunnelling, construction and transportation projects, reservoirs, rock cavern networks in Singapore, and 3D visualisations of a proposed airport in Indonesia.

“By having early input into the development of Leapfrog Works, and embracing digital transformation as an organisation, we have increased our ability to communicate geotechnical challenges on projects such as the Upper Chelburn Impounding Reservoir to a wide range of stakeholders. As a result we have seen improved project outcomes for our clients such as United Utilities,” said Tony O’Brien, Mott MacDonald Geotechnics Global Practice Leader.

Leapfrog Works interfaces and exchanges information with diverse digital design and Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital geotechnical database platforms. The optional hydrogeology solution kit also integrates with flow simulation packages.

“Leapfrog 3D geological models allow our project teams to thoroughly interrogate ground data from a variety of sources and field observations. By interrogating data sources in this way and applying our geotechnical expertise, we have achieved more efficient design solutions with higher levels of confidence. On the Chelburn project, using Leapfrog led to substantial reductions in the time needed to produce ground models, with associated cost savings compared to traditional approaches,” said O’Brien.

The winners of the British Construction Industry Awards will be announced on 10 October 2108 in London.