BIM Case Study: Circuit of the Americas Observation Tower
In the modern construction industry, the usage of BIM software has become invaluable. Without Building Information Modeling the industry today will be nowhere to meet the demands and challenges of the 21st-century construction projects. By reviewing real-life scenarios of BIM usage, we can identify and analyze how exactly experts are using the applications to support building development and project management.
The very first racing track solely built for Formula One racing in the USA, the Circuit of the Americas is 3.5 miles long and respectively wide. This grade 1 FIA-specification prestigious motor racing track hosts both car races and motorbike races and has already hosted some of the prestigious motor races in the world. For today's BIM case study, let us see how BIM software was used in the construction of the observation tower for these tracks.
Project Requirement
The Circuit of the Americas (CotA) race track is 3.426 miles (or 5.514 kilometers) long, with a width proportional to the circuit. The race track sits upon 890 acres of undeveloped land in southeastern Travis County near Austin, Texas. The duty of designing the observation tower for this track was endowed to Mio Rivera, who invented a brilliant design reminding the visitors why they are here.
The observation tower for the track is 251 feet or 77 meters tall and is capable of seating an audience ten thousand strong. A double-helix structure surrounds the elevator hoist-way that is the main connection to the grounds to the building. The 900 sqft main observation deck has a partial glass floor and offers a 360-degree view of the surroundings as well as downtown Austin from an elevation of 230 feet.
But the most obvious feature of the building is its 18 steel tubes, colored a vivid, bright red, running along the back of the tower and gracefully flowing down to horizontal. This unique design is intended to act as a dramatic focal point for the race track and serves the visitors' as an anchoring point for racing, reminding them of the bright tail light streak left behind after a speeding car. The 8” diameter tubes not only have a strong visual impact but also contribute to the structural stability of the tower by acting as an outrigger column for lateral load resistance via a series of struts and rods that tie back to the primary structure.
Challenge of the Project
The construction duty for this bold and innovative design was bestowed upon Austin Commercial, and they faced their match in this project. The project consisted of an outdoor amphitheater, concessions, restrooms, and the tower itself - along with the steel tube structure on the back of everything. The firm was bound by a short time of eight months only for designing and construction of the building. To overcome this challenge of delivering such a complex structure with all necessary safeties within such a small deadline, the firm needed to adapt to a new kind of design and construction stratagem.
The Outcome
The Houston-based civil engineering and consultation company Walter P Moore (WPM) assimilated the intriguing Miro Rivera concept and transformed it into a brilliant fabrication level model. Within just 16 weeks, the team took the basic geometrical design to the field with fabricated steel, thanks to the consultation of Patriot Erectors, a structural steel company from Austin. The Synchro, a 4D BIM and virtual design software was used to make the buildable model and manage resources for this project.
While the other stuff was going on, Austin Commercial used Synchro to tie up WPM and Patriot together in the project through concurrent sequencing. With the help of this, the team was able to plan and fabricate the on-site steel lattice diagrid tower, in modules. After a few weeks, WPM measured progress in terms of the numbers of modules built, and Patriot used the data to reschedule the project timeline and resource flow accordingly so that they can meet the deadline.
To be noted that the use of an advanced BIM software allowed the team to not only finish the project in time but also to adhere to the strict safety and security for the tower and hoisting fabrication. The lead section of the steel tube veil was left off for the moment to allow lifting of the entire 3000-pound glass bottom to be hoisted onto the viewing platform in one go (the glass floor was assembled in-shop earlier).
By November 2011, Austin Commercial and the subcontractors have finished construction of the distinctive red veil of the tower. The Formula One Grand Prix track was officially opened on 21st October 2012, with Mario Andretti traversing the ceremonial first lap in a Lotus 79. The next month, more than a hundred thousand spectators observed the return of Grand Prix to America.