Site Planning & Visualization

For a final project in school we are asked to develop the production plan for the excavation, substructure, superstructure, and masonry and stonework for a proposed addition to our school. Over the course of the semester we had developed these plans individually and for the final project we were asked to combine them. In doing so I decided to use Google SketchUp to visualize the site utilization.


The first image is a view of at the end of the excavation phase. At this point the perimeter fence has been established and the loader and haul trucks are shown in position.

The second image is a view of the caisson installation. Starting at the west the caisson installation will proceed eastward. Then the area to the south will be completed and finally the corner that connects the two. Then grade beams will be formed and poured (this portion was not included in the scope of work, but was included in the model).

The Third image shows the crane location. At this point trailers and restroom facilities have been established on site. The tower crane was selected for its ability to access all parts of the site from one location. Space on the site is limited, so the tower crane helps to alleviate safety hazards and crane relocation issues.

The fourth image is a visualization of the scaffolding from the perpective of a worker on the south side of the building.

This was one of the best benefits of using the SketchUp model It not only allowed a 360-degree 3D view of the site, it also allowed me to see worker perspectives. In a couple of seconds I was able to see what it would be like for a crane operator about to pic a column, stoneworker on scaffolding, and a construction manager or field engineer stepping out of the trailer to see work in progress on the south side of the building (Fifth image).

SketchUp is not a parametric program, it cannot take schedules in to account. But as a free program, it could be used for visualization, and if the proper process was created, I think it could be used for low-level construction animation. The level of detail in the rendering is high, the Google Warehouse has a lot of construction equipment that cuts down on modeling time, and there is the potential to bring models from SketchUp into NavisWorks however, as a zero- or low-cost option, it could prove very helpful in communication with trades.
The Google SketchUp site has a couple of Construction Case Studies showing how professional construction companies use sketchUp for site visualization and safety.

Below is a small video of another project for school in which we were able to bring the SketchUp Model into NavisWorks and automatically synch up the MS Project schedule to it.