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As part of a wider BIM initiative, Hatch Mott MacDonald's management chose to invest in a new system - powered by Bentley software - that introduced the required intelligence into the rail signal design process, significantly reducing design time and effort, improving accuracy, enabling collaboration and driving standardisation.

HITTING THE LIMITS OF TRADITIONAL DESIGN PROCESSES
Traditionally, signal designers at Hatch Mott MacDonald have used an in-house design workflow. While trusted and proven, procedures are manual, time-consuming and tedious, and there are no automated controls to ensure the latest versions of CAD elements are used. In addition, design checking involves significant manual effort; everyone works sequentially, and there is little collaboration.

"3D design automation and the use of intelligent metadata within the design process is becoming the norm in many industries, including rail," explains Hatch Mott MacDonald signal designer/ Promis.e administrator Robert Henderson, C.Tech. "In order for Hatch Mott MacDonald to maintain its competitive edge, we understood that we must leverage industry best practice and the latest technology."

To stay ahead of the competition and meet the required Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards, Hatch Mott MacDonald invested time to create a single database for project data and owner catalogues. Henderson adds, "Promis.e has a comprehensive database and client catalogue system for electrical disciplines, but our rail signals database had to be tailored to each railway's independent standards for CAD and design."

HARNESSING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES
Using a combination of solutions from Bentley, Hatch Mott MacDonald works with intelligent 3D models linked directly to the electrical schematics required for signal design, costing and construction. The new system includes functionality to automate the creation of project workflows via templates that will also streamline basic checking processes.

Leveraging the combined capabilities of Promis.e, Bentley Navigator, and ProjectWise, Hatch Mott MacDonald will operationalise its intelligent system for rail signal design as follows:

• Content building - Using the Promis.e for Rail Signaling database, design teams can create schematic symbols that link directly to project databases and 3D layouts.

• Project building - Through an application programming interface (API), custom template scripts drive individual client standards, equipment selection, tag generation, schematic creation and layout generation. As a result, designers simply input basic client and location information to arrive at an accurate, preliminary design that's about 75 per cent complete. The solution also ensures that owner-specific content created in the first step ripples through and is correctly used at every stage of the process.

• Engineering design considerations - Promis.e features automated checking tools that can be triggered by the designer. The system will perform a series of electrical circuit checks, verifying that users have not over-assigned the equipment's electrical contacts and ensuring that all tags have been generated. The rules that Promis.e's engineering design considerations are based on are integrated with the existing Hatch Mott MacDonald Quality Environment and Safety (QES) standards.

• SQL Server and ProjectWise integration and roll-out- A significant element of the system is its integration with ProjectWise, enabling the sharing of project drawings. Multiple users can access the Promis.e project database, the "single source of truth," through the SQL Server located at Hatch Mott MacDonald's corporate headquarters.

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