An assessment of building information modeling (BIM) implementation for the Turkish transportation infrastructure industry

Abstract

Transportation infrastructure, which includes highways, railways, bridges, airports, and tunnels, is an integral part of the socio-economic development of a country. There is a great need for innovative techniques and technologies that increase productivity and efficiency in terms of time, cost, and quality for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of transportation structures due to the growing population and the increasing demand for transportation. Building Information Modeling (BIM), an innovative technology widely adopted in the construction industry, has the potential to revolutionize the transportation infrastructure industry due to the knowledge-based nature of transportation infrastructure projects. BIM enables the creation of a 3D object-based and parametric model of a structure, and the BIM model supports collaborative working and interoperability among all disciplines via a digital information-sharing platform. It aims to ensure that all the information generated through the lifecycle of a project is accurately and efficiently stored, shared and used, thereby to make the decision-making and problem-solving processes easier, quicker and more accurate based on the information, and ultimately to minimize the possible time, cost and quality losses of the project. While the initiatives and investments are increasing in Turkey, as with the other countries in the world, BIM is not widely implemented in the Turkish transportation infrastructure industry.