Recently, the BIM Solution for Hengyang-Yongzhou Expressway jointly applied by Hunan Provincial Communications Planning, Survey & Design Institute Co, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hunan Construction Investment Group (HCIG), and Hunan Hengyong Expressway Construction and Development Co, Ltd. won the Outstanding Achievement Award as a Finalist in 2023 Bentley’s Going Digital Awards in Infrastructure. This project is also the only Chinese project in the category of “highways and expressways” in the competition to reach the final.

Bentley’s Going Digital Awards in Infrastructure is a well-regarded global competition that recognizes the digital advancements in various forms of infrastructure projects. The awards were set up in 2004. This year, 235 organizations from 51 countries and regions submitted over 300 projects for the competition, and 36 finalists of 12 award categories were selected by 12 independent judges.

The Hengyang-Yongzhou Expressway project in Hunan, along with the Froy Mountain-Veterans Memorial Tunnel project in the United States and the Montrose Overpass project in South Africa entered the final of the “Highway and Expressway” category, promoting the construction concept and achievements of HCIG to the world and received high praise from the judges of the organizing committee.

The Hengyang-Yongzhou Expressway, with a length of approximately 105.2 kilometers, is currently the largest ongoing investment project of HCIG. It is also the first expressway demonstration project in Hunan with BIM technology applied in the full process. Hunan Provincial Communications Planning, Survey & Design Institute Co, Ltd. and Hunan Hengyong Expressway Construction and Development Co, Ltd. actively innovated management modes and means with new technology.

During the design and construction phase of Hengyang-Yongzhou Expressway, designers avoided occupying 10 hectares of farmland and optimized the construction of multiple bridges with Bentley’s application programs.

Zhang Xinhao, a BIM engineer of Hunan Provincial Communications Planning, Survey & Design Institute Co, Ltd., said, “Ecological and farmland protection are a red line that cannot be crossed in transportation infrastructure construction. Through rapid route selection and modeling, construction models can be automatically generated to visually display the impact on farmland and ecology, which helps us quickly adjust and change the route.”