Can multi-disciplinary spatial digital twins reduce infrastructure project risk?

The estimated cost of the Australian Governments’ 10-year Infrastructure Investment Program had blown out by $34 billion according to a 2023 report. As this example shows, reducing risk across the infrastructure development lifecycle, even incremental can have a significant impact.

The Challenge 

Creating a digital replica of a design stage infrastructure project, to create a true multi-disciplinary view of the infrastructure design as well as the broader geospatial context is complex. This digital replica must be available in tools that are accessible to a broad range of users with varying roles and expertise both within in-business project teams and clients. 

Data challenges can include the complexity and size of 3D data that make it difficult to visualise and share. This can result in inefficiencies in project planning and increased costs in data management. If these challenges are not addressed and all the data layers required to inform decision are not included or cannot be adequately visualised, re-design costs and project delays are likely to occur. Inadequate client involvement in technical aspects can result in misaligned project outputs. 

Our Response

Terria launched the Digital Twin Early Adopter Program (EAP) to lower the barrier for organisations to adopt spatial digital twin technology. It was designed to enable organisations to co-develop a digital transformation use case critical to their own organisational needs. The EAP enables participants to trial Terria’s pre-market advanced spatial digital twin technology for their operations to improve efficiency, communication, collaboration and reduce risks. 

Terria and SMEC progressed two use cases together, both related to the development of renewable energy infrastructure in remote and regional Australia. The first use case was focused on a feasibility study of a potential future development site, where the objective was to build the richest possible understanding of the site for optimal decision making. The teams worked together to curate the most extensive data catalogue possible. The second use case was to develop and test a single multidisciplinary 3D view of a design stage solar farm, where the objective was to bring together all project data such as re-establishment surveys and designs, in addition to broader context data. Project data included Building Information Models (BIM), Lidar, Orthophotography, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and vector files in a range of formats.  

To foster collaboration and knowledge exchange between the teams during the project implementation, an iterative approach to design, development and user testing was taken, connecting SMEC with Terria’s technical team in addition to user experience design and product management. The resulting proof of concept was demonstrated and shared with stakeholders across the organisation. 

The Results 

The project enabled SMEC to confirm the potential to reduce risk in infrastructure project delivery and increase productivity by developing and testing their own use case. SMEC identified the potential to reduce time spent in meetings and discussions by presenting data in a more efficient and understandable manner. The ability to show stakeholders a single multi-disciplinary view of the project, complete with all data layers relevant to the project reduces potential misunderstandings and mistakes leading to better project outcomes.  

The identified benefits of the Terria platform include: 

  1. Improved collaboration and stakeholder engagement: Terria facilitates better stakeholder engagement by offering a common platform for data visualisation, acting as a “universal language.” It solves the challenge of collaboration tools and stakeholder engagement. 
  1. Offers data availability and adaptability: With Terria, SMEC was able to access a wide range of useful data in various formats, addressing the challenge of technical difficulties with 3D data and data integration inefficiency and errors. 
  1. Enables customisation and cooperation: Terria’s cooperative approach allows customisation to various data formats, which enhances user experience and addresses the resistance to new technologies by showing adaptability. 
  1. Effective data representation: Terria is effective in representing data in a manner that’s accessible and useful, tackling issues related to poor quality of data presentations and low client engagement. 
  1. User-friendly and accessible: The platform’s user-friendliness helps to smoothly transition those less familiar with such tools, making it accessible to a wider audience. 

“[Adopting spatial digital twins] will mean projects will be built to a higher standard and overall efficiencies will follow through from that.”

Next steps for SMEC are focused on scaling the EAP project lessons across the organisation. Including adopting the spatial digital twin framework and approach for new projects. Terria has benefitted from working with SMEC, with many of the insights learned during the project informing Terria’s future development. 

“It’s a great moment in time where a lot of data is available to us, and we can project it up to the various stages of the project.”