Unique collaboration between BAM, Ballast Nedam and Heijmans in DEC

Looking for similarities

By looking closely at the similarities between the companies, the collective came up with an application that automates the basic knowledge. Paulus Eckhardt, Director Design & Engineering, of Ballast Nedam: “We mainly work on the fundamental levels of the process, that is not competitive. This is where the Product Owners of the companies meet.” The application makes it possible to quickly calculate a large number of cross sections for soil bodies by automating settlement calculations (D-Settlement). “With this we can realize a shorter design time, we can implement changes faster and do better calculations. In this way we reduce the risk of errors and we ensure lower failure costs”, says Jos van Rijen, Manager Design Operations, BAM.

Using the knowledge

The role of people in projects is also changing. “The changes in the labour market require knowledge and experience to be safeguarded, while the challenges in terms of integrality and sustainability are growing,” says Eckhardt. He is referring to the slow dissappearance of very experienced engineers with a lot of knowledge. The VIKTOR platform offers a solution because it is precisely this knowledge that is bundled and further developed. This application is the first of three applications to be developed with the Digital Engineering Community (DEC), which offers builders the opportunity to automate their engineering together with the help of programming engineers from VIKTOR. Costs are shared by investing in the application and its development together. Coen Sanderink, Heijmans Business Developer Digital Infra says: “The market is being automated, and this is therefore a good way to develop faster and cheaper. We can then use our budget more effectively and work faster.” As a result, the cooperating contractors can continue to distinguish themselves in other areas.