Relevance Of Emergency Response And 3d Civil Engineering To Design/Construct/Operate: A Letter to the Editor

Brad Sharp and Dave Simeone, Infrastructure Solutions Division, Autodesk

Thank you for your great coverage at AU. It was a very good read.

We would like to address one of your questions/points regarding the relevance of emergency response and 3D civil engineering to design/construct/operate.

[In GIS Monitor you noted:]

"My sense from this talk is that ISD is trying to be all things to all people. How does enhancing revenue from design/construction/operation, tie into emergency response and 3D civil engineering models? It's a bit of a stretch for me at this time."

For emergency response if you look at the lifecycle management continuum, a big part of the process is operation or management. We (and our customers) see emergency response as a natural component of that management process. Since a significant amount of the nation�s infrastructure (buildings, pipelines, dams, etc) was designed with Autodesk products over the last 20 years, it makes sense that our products are used to protect these assets as well.

Autodesk has a unique position in that we develop technology for design, engineering and GIS. We can combine our technology with that of other companies to provide amazing situational awareness both inside and outside facilities. Emergency responders absolutely want both of these types of data when responding to a major event: bombing, earthquake, major fire, hostage situation, etc. Our strategy is to take our tools - that professionals have been using in emergency response for years - and give them more emergency response and public safety focus. Equally important is that we make them even more user friendly.

You asked about the relevance of 3D civil engineering models as we work to enhance revenue streams for our customers. Using the object and three dimensional modeling that our new product Autodesk Civil 3D offers is extremely important to our customers for two major reasons. First, dynamic object modeling speeds civil engineering design immensely. Current available design tools, including our own, do not maintain dynamic relationships between various design sheets, plans, profiles, etc. By using dynamic modeling, one change on one sheet will ripple throughout a project. A change on a plan for instance will immediately be reflected on a profile. This is unprecedented in civil engineering design and will eliminate many steps and save drafters and designers countless hours of tedious design changes.

Another advantage is three dimensional modeling supports downstream users of the data. For instance, many construction firms now demand three dimensional modelings to speed earthmoving and grading. Perhaps you have seen earthmoving equipment with GPS devices working on construction sites recently. Construction firms load three dimensional models directly into the equipment and the grading is performed to very precise tolerances. In the past, this work required extensive manual staking by surveyors each day.

We developed Autodesk Civil 3D software based on customer requests. Visit [here] to see customers talking about this software.) Below is a quote from a construction firm discussing the importance of three dimensional models to any civil engineering design firm that expects to remain competitive and enhance their revenue stream.

"Because accurate three-dimensional models are required to represent grading surfaces for GPS-equipped machines, contractors must either obtain 3D models from designers or create models themselves based on 2D drawings. McAninch generally prefers to obtain digital designs rather than recreate them."

Patrick Ruelle, Development Director, McAninch Corporation, (Iowa earthmoving and utility construction contractor)

Regards,

Brad Sharp, Sr. Manager, Government Solutions

Dave Simeone, Senior Product Manager, Civil Solutions

Infrastructure Solutions Division