Welcome the new Infrakit version with configurable as-built imports! 

Have you noticed these release blogs are appearing more often… Hats off to our R&D team! Even more impressive is that regardless of the speedy release intervals, our developers have still carried out remarkable new features and improvements for you in the new version once again. I bet you agree, it is a good to give a moment of appreciation to where it belongs, but who less often gets the credit! *Clapping hands together* Without further ado, let us have a quick glance on what are the highlights in Infrakit 3.8.3!   

Configured as-builts in the heart of the Construction CDE 

Commonly in construction projects, there can be tens or hundreds of data sources for as-built measurements. From machine operators on their grade control systems, surveyors measuring with RTK GNSS and total stations, foremen and supervisors with their grade checking tools to name a few… the amount of data sources and its distributed fashion across many sub-contractors may be overwhelming for quality engineers trying to aggregate the big picture. Not to mention how important this data is for quality assurance of the project and conducting handover to owner. 

That is precisely why we focused on developing our as-built importing function, to support configurable import where you can drop your local ASCII data sets from any imaginable shape. This way, you can collect all as-built data into Infrakit, having it as a single source of truth. The collecting process of as-built data made seamless!

Check out how to use it via the video!

Seamlessly enjoyable photo preview in the map page

Isn’t it just lovely when something functions so smoothly, it feels connected to your mind… Well, the photo integration on our map page is approaching that state certainly. Floating and movable photo preview, edit button in the palm of your hand, interactive map when changing the photo -> The map centers right where the photo location is! 

Milk cartons with caps, screen unlocking with facial recognition, Infrakit map with interactive photo previews… These kinds of “minor-looking” improvements are often underrated, as they at the first glance do not seem important, but you will find them soon enough making your life so much easier, one improvement at a time!  

3D BIM viewer improvements… again!

3D improvements again?? Déjà vu... Did we forget to edit this chapter from the last couple of release blogs? No, we did not! We just improved the 3D view so much once again, that it must be highlighted, as you can now filter as-builts in the view just as in the 2D. Also, you can check surface elevations and coordinates from the 3D models, so no need to run to 2D side anymore for that either.  

Thought buzzing around 3D BIM Viewer improvements, it is worth mentioning that we also improved viewing of 2D models drastically, especially IFC’s, so check them as well!

 Check the more in-depth list of new features and improvements of this version from our Knowledge Base

Marja-Terttu Sikiö van Destia: milieukwesties en duurzaamheid worden steeds belangrijker bij de planning van infrastructuurprojecten

De infrastructuursector is een van de meest vervuilende industrieën ter wereld. Het merendeel van de emissies vindt plaats na de inbedrijfstelling, maar ook de bouw zelf heeft gevolgen voor het milieu.

Ongeacht de sector worden milieukwesties en duurzaamheidsdoelstellingen steeds belangrijkere onderwerpen in gesprekken, en de lat ligt hoog. Bij de aanleg van infrastructuur betekent het bereiken van deze doelstellingen en het verminderen van de emissies dat nieuwe technologische en materiaalopties moeten worden onderzocht en dat de procedures tot op zekere hoogte moeten worden gewijzigd. Digitalisering zal naar verwachting ook de milieueffecten van de bouw helpen verminderen. Finland heeft hiervoor een goed uitgangspunt, aangezien de afgelopen 10 jaar veel moeite is gedaan om de infrastructuur te digitaliseren.

Om duurzaamheid in de bouw van infrastructuur te bereiken, moeten we holistisch denken. Destia, bijvoorbeeld, heeft een lange traditie van zorg voor sociale duurzaamheid, inclusief veiligheid op het werk en welzijn van de werknemers. Duurzaamheid wordt echter een steeds breder thema in de hele sector, en er wordt steeds meer gesproken over emissies en de gevolgen voor het milieu als geheel.

Wij interviewden Marja-Terttu Sikiö van Destia om te zien hoe zij de discussie over dit onderwerp ziet en wat er gedaan kan worden om verandering te bevorderen.

Hoe ziet u de huidige situatie in de bouwsector?

Ik zie het als zeer positief in de zin dat milieukwesties en duurzaamheid, zoals klimaatwerk, steeds meer worden meegenomen in projecten, ook in gemeentelijke ontwikkelingsprojecten. Voor Destia zijn sociale duurzaamheidskwesties, zoals veiligheid op het werk en welzijn van de werknemers, al lang belangrijke thema’s.

Ziet u iets in de huidige situatie dat vooruitgang verhindert of belemmert?

Ik denk dat het belangrijkste obstakel een gebrek aan kennis en gedurfde experimenten op praktisch niveau is. Als het gaat om grote projecten en duurzame structuren, moeten we natuurlijk enige voorzichtigheid betrachten. Om vooruitgang te boeken in de sector zijn meer voorbeelden van succesvolle projecten nodig, evenals uitdagingen en gebieden die voor verbetering vatbaar zijn. We hebben ook meer bedrijven, gemeenten en mensen nodig die bereid zijn veranderingen te omarmen en als pioniers op te treden.

Hoe denkt u dat de situatie zich in de toekomst zal ontwikkelen?

Ik denk dat er een nog bredere selectie van eisen en perspectieven van duurzaamheid zal zijn waarmee bij nieuwe projecten rekening moet worden gehouden. Nieuwe praktijken zullen eerst worden ingevoerd in grotere pioniersprojecten, zoals alliantieprojecten. Zij bieden een goede gelegenheid om dingen op een nieuwe manier te doen, met nauwe samenwerking tussen de verschillende actoren. Best practices zullen zich vervolgens verspreiden naar andere projecten als gevolg van het succes van de pioniers.

Wat zijn volgens u de belangrijkste factoren om veranderingen teweeg te brengen en de emissies onder controle te houden?

De sleutel is het ontwikkelen en inzetten van vaardigheden, competenties en nieuwe praktijken door middel van proefprojecten. Bovendien kunnen we met de digitalisering de kennisbasis aanzienlijk uitbreiden. Wat de emissies van het vervoer betreft, vinden de meeste emissies van de vervoersinfrastructuur plaats tijdens het gebruik. Dit geldt ook voor lightrail-projecten. Deze emissies zullen worden verminderd door vooruitgang op het gebied van voertuigtechnologie en elektriciteitsopwekking.

Afgezien van de operationele fase worden de meeste emissies gegenereerd door enkele materialen, zoals staal, beton en asfalt. Deze emissies kunnen worden verminderd door gerecyclede grondstoffen te gebruiken. Ook de keuze van machines en transportmiddelen op de bouwplaats is van belang. Meer integratie van gegevensverzameling in de gehele productieketen en het gebruik van deze gegevens voor de planning en uitvoering van emissiereducties is nog steeds nodig op de bouwplaatsen.

Marja-Terttu Sikiö werkt al 14 jaar voor Destia’s Design and Expert Services. Momenteel werkt zij als project- en teamleider bij de afdeling Milieubeoordeling.

Destia

Destia is Finlands grootste operator in de infrastructuursector en maakt deel uit van het internationale Colas Group. Het bedrijf ontwerpt, bouwt en onderhoudt de infrastructuur die nodig is voor een goed functionerende samenleving. Hieronder vallen elektriciteitsnetten, bruggen, wegen en spoorwegen. Destia verbetert steden door telematica- en verlichtingsoplossingen te ontwikkelen en door een brede waaier van diensten aan te bieden voor het beheer van transport en infrastructuur.

Master Infrakit OFFICE and Mobile browser version with our comprehensive manual

We’re excited to announce that, as requested by our loyal users, we’ve published a comprehensive manual for Infrakit OFFICE and Mobile browser version! These resources have been designed to help you get the most out of your Infrakit experience, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned user. With this manual, you can learn everything there is to know about our platform, from logging in to utilizing the more advanced features. Let’s dive into what you can expect from the manual.

Getting started: logging in and settings

Infrakit is all about ease of use, and our manual reflects that. The first sections of the manual walks you through the simple process of logging in and adjusting your settings. This ensures that you can start using Infrakit as quickly as possible, tailoring the platform to your specific needs.

Exploring functions and features

The manual is organized by topic, making it easy to find the information you’re looking for. It delves into the functions and features of various pages and tabs within the Infrakit platform, helping you navigate the interface with confidence. You’ll learn how to control models, documents, and photos, as well as how to work with as-builts, equipment, and section views.

Saved views: a powerful tool

One particularly useful feature that the manual covers is the concept of saved views. This powerful tool allows you to store customized views of your project data, enabling you to quickly access the information that’s most relevant to you. The manual provides step-by-step instructions on how to create, manage, and share these saved views, streamlining your workflow and making collaboration a breeze.

Boost your productivity with Infrakit

Infrakit is designed to help you work faster and more productively, no matter your role in the infrastructure construction project. Our platform opens up new avenues for collaboration, ensuring that everyone on your team is on the same page. With our comprehensive manual, you’ll be able to make the most of Infrakit’s features and become a true champion of modern infra construction.

Training opportunities and support

While our manual is a fantastic starting point, we understand that you may still have questions or require additional training. Our team is here to help! For further information and training opportunities, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

Conclusion

Infrakit’s new manual for OFFICE and Mobile browser version is designed to help you maximize your use of our platform, whether you’re a new user or an experienced pro. By familiarizing yourself with the features and functions outlined in this guide, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an expert in modern infrastructure construction. So, give yourself that extra boost and get started today!

Please note that this manual is subject to regular updates, as we continuously improve and expand Infrakit’s features. Be sure to keep an eye out for the latest edition to stay up-to-date with all that our platform has to offer.

Manual is available on our Knowledge Base »  

For further information and training opportunities, please contact our support team at support@infrakit.com

The New Infrakit version brings more CDE features and an enhanced 3D experience! 

Release blog posts may not be the most popular ones we’ve got, but we could argue that they are high value providing hidden gems for those that do open these. Seems that you are one of those pioneers, and forerunners of the industry, so congratulate yourself on being on the tip of the iceberg, by educating yourself to be the ”digitalization champion” who rides the tide!  

For release 3.8.2 of Infrakit OFFICE, we focused on making features that help manage all project documents in Infrakit, not only the ones you would visualize on the map. Together with that, we have enhanced the 3D BIM viewing. In other words, these features enable you to work faster,  collaborate better, and be the star of your project! 

Optimize your data management with new CDE features

It’s no big secret that data management is the key to successful projects. This time we focused to enhance our CDE features by adding you an opportunity to set and manage properties for your files. 

Was it either file categories of Design Disciplines, Model maturities, or phases of the project, property management saves you a ton of time. Add your custom property as a number, text value, or in a list of options. 

Check how to use it from the video below! 

Simplify your mountain of information 

Infraprojects tend to have quite an overwhelming amount of files… Thus, filtering and sorting out the ones you don’t need in the UI brings simplicity.  

To enable this step by step, we developed another CDE feature, which enables you to make any file or folder dispappear from the visualization apps.  As an example, you can use the Infrakit as single source of truth platform for all the project files. Store and manage the revisioning of the native drawings that are not meant for map projection. With this feature those files are not bugging the users of the Map page. 

We also introduced handy left-click menus on web UI, make sure you don’t miss that one! 

The video below once again will show you a quick and easy way of using this feature! 

Become a superior collaborator with enhanced 3D’s and point clouds 

Wouldn’t you want to be the champion, who makes everyone in project-wide collaboration feel happy and safe? Yea, that is precisely why (once again), we used a ton of focus on making Infrakit help you to be the champion. 

Infrakit’s high-power 3D engine can smoothly render your map and 3D data in one view on any modern hardware (yeah, that’s including phones and tablets). The 3D view now also enables you to see the station numbers of alignments, enabling finding the right spot on the project even handier. On top of these, the new version enables you to select multiple point clouds to be visualized at the same time!  

These features not only make the designs and visualizations of the site look good but you as well! 

Check the more in-depth list of new features and improvements of this version from our Knowledge Base

Climate Fund – €6 million capital loan to Infrakit for the development and commercialisation of sustainability functionalities for boosting emissions reductions in infrastructure building

The Finnish Climate Fund has decided on a capital loan of up to 6 million euros to Infrakit Group Oy for the development of sustainability functionalities in their data management service, as well as for boosting the software’s international deployment. Improving the efficiency of transport and the utilisation of machines and materials can reduce the emissions of infrastructure construction sites by an estimated 5%.

Infrastructure building refers to the construction of, for example, transport routes, logistics centres, energy infrastructure or industrial structures. The sector’s annual emissions in Finland are approximately 1.4 Mt CO2eq, of which roughly 55% is generated by the fuel consumption of machinery and vehicles.

Infrakit offers data management services for infrastructure projects, particularly for reducing the duration and costs of construction. ”Until now, we have been able to promise our customers savings of approximately 20% in overall infrastructure building costs by improving the efficiency of operations with our service. Many projects have also been completed ahead of schedule, like the 70-million-euro project on Highway 3. Now we want to bring the same benefits to sustainability”, says Infrakit’s CEO, Teemu Kivimäki.

Infrakit’s sustainability function will offer more precise information and tools for boosting emissions reductions to construction companies and infrastructure managers in Finland and abroad. The service lets its users leverage climate and environmental data as well as measure and anticipate the emissions generated by their operations.

”Infrakit’s comprehensive data management service is one way of boosting the sustainability perspective in the construction sector. For example, cities and municipalities could use the service to set requirements and goals for builders regarding their emissions. Our investment accelerates the growth of an emissions-reducing solution and enables the development of new sustainability functionalities”, says CEO Paula Laine of the Climate Fund, shedding light on the reasons behind the investment decision.

Infrakit’s solution

Infrakit Group Oy is a company established in 2010 that offers cloud-based data management services to infrastructure construction sites. Infrakit’s solution has already been used in over 3,000 Finnish and international projects worth more than 30 billion euros in total.

The emissions reductions achieved by Infrakit are indirect: its technology enables the recognition of emissions but the ultimate emissions reductions depend on the corrective action taken by the company’s customers instead of directly from the technology or product of the company being financed. Infrakit’s data-based management features offer tools for determining the customer’s carbon footprint, monitoring actual emissions and optimising emissions during the project’s implementation. By using this data, Infrakit’s customers are able to decrease their emissions.

The project’s estimated emissions reduction potential is based on the improvement in infrastructure building efficiency achieved by the data model platform provided by the company, which can for example reduce the fuel consumption of machinery at the construction site. The magnitude of the emissions reductions achieved in a single infrastructure building project is approximately 0.6 kt CO2eq. If Infrakit’s business plan succeeds, its ten-year cumulative emissions-reduction potential is approximately 3 Mt CO2eq. The emissions-reduction benefits brought by the new sustainability functionality currently under development would be realised in addition to this estimate, but the assessment of their magnitude involves uncertainties, so they have not been included in the emissions-reduction estimate above. The project targets markets both in Finland and abroad but Infrakit believes that most of its growth will be achieved abroad.

The total investments in the company’s growth and development plan in the next few years are estimated at €12.6 million, consisting of the Climate Fund’s capital loan, €5 million in equity funding from one of the company’s current shareholders and grants from Business Finland and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

The Climate Fund’s capital loan of up to €6 million has a convertibles option and will be allocated to the development of an emissions-reducing functionality and the acceleration of the software’s international deployment. The interest on the Climate Fund’s capital loan is priced at the market rate and the capital loan also includes a conversion right.

For additional information, please contact:
Saara Mattero, Director, Communications and Sustainability, tel. +358 400 114 777 saara.mattero@ilmastorahasto.fi

Anssi Johansson, VP of Marketing, tel. +358 40 592 9933, anssi.johansson@infrakit.com

The Finnish Climate Fund is a Finnish state-owned special-assignment company. Its operations focus on combating climate change, boosting low-carbon industry and promoting digitalisation. The Climate Fund invests in large-scale projects in which the fund’s investment is crucial to enable the project’s realisation in the first place, on a larger scale or earlier than it would with funding from elsewhere.

Infrakit – Your digital transformation partner. Infrakit is an industry-disrupting digital platform to increase infrastructure construction productivity. We are driven by the goal of a sustainable infra industry – while offering 20% savings in total project costs. Our customers include the most advanced construction companies and infrastructure owners in the world. We have been helping our customers to digitalize their infra projects since 2010 – over 30 billion euros of infra assets has been built with Infrakit in more than 3000 projects in 13 countries.

Kalasatama-Pasila project – een belangrijke stap naar een emissievrije bouwplaats

Emissiedoelstellingen op organisatieniveau worden min of meer gemeengoed in de infrastructuursector. Maar op het zetten van concrete, belangrijke stappen om deze doelstellingen te bereiken hebben we moeten wachten.

Ambitieuze koolstofneutraliteitsdoelstellingen kunnen alleen worden verwezenlijkt wanneer de middelen om de emissies te verminderen via concrete projecten worden ontwikkeld.

Een belangrijke stap naar koolstofneutraliteit

Destia, hoofdaannemer van het alliantieproject Kalasatama-Pasila in Helsinki, heeft samen met het duurzaamheidsteam van het project de grote stap gezet van ambitie naar praktijk.

In samenwerking met andere projectpartners experimenteert Destia nu met emissiecontrole op basis van productiegegevens, wat niet alleen een nauwkeurigere en hoogwaardigere emissiecontrole mogelijk maakt, maar ook een lichter proces voor het genereren van controlegegevens.

Van raming tot verificatie van emissies

In de toekomst kunnen de emissies beter worden geoptimaliseerd door ze te verifiëren. Deze optimalisatie vereist metingen, en zal ons uiteindelijk in staat stellen de voor de aanleg van infrastructuur vastgestelde doelstellingen inzake koolstofneutraliteit te bereiken.

Wij hebben ons meer toegelegd op het ontwikkelen van oplossingen om de doelstellingen inzake koolstofneutraliteit te bereiken. Een onderdeel van deze verbintenis is de ontwikkeling van op productiegegevens gebaseerde emissiecontrolesystemen.

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