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The monitoring of the progress of the erection of steel structure in any work is paramount. An incorrect or poorly placed beam can endanger the entire project.
However, the problems with the way companies follow the multiple of steel: some companies are put on an excel spreadsheet and there may be a discrepancy in the data standards between the stakeholders in a project.
Suffolk Construction, based in Boston, has a solution that was developed at home. Live Dimensions, created by Suffolk Digital Engineering Director, Denis Leff, uses BIM models to keep track of steel progress from design to final manufacture and construction. He has already identified common obstacles in the erection process, he said, saving the company’s time.
In a statement, Suffolk said that Live dimensions uses artificial intelligence to analyze data sets and standardize information in a unified database. This allows you to dynamically update the BIM model, which provides a real time snapshot of the structural steel state of a project.
Secrets of success
Leff said that his interest in technology began when he spent some time working in Samsung in South Korea: he worked from 2010 to 2016 as the BIM Development Manager at the headquarters of the Company Construction and Trade Division in Seoul.
Since passing to Suffolk, Leff’s passion has been to bring BIM to the masses, even to the non -experts. Therefore, live dimensions was born.
Denis Leff
Permission granted by Suffolk Construction
“BIM models contain all the information of what we are about to build,” said Leff. “And I generally see them as underlined in our industry, partially because technology blocks a lot of people. They do not know how to access data unless you are a BIM expert.”
Suffolk currently uses live dimensions in his South Shore University Hospital Pavilion Core & Shell Project in Bay Shore, New York. The scope of the first work phase includes the reduction and demolition, the utilities of the site and the full nucleus and the Shell, according to the project information page. It $ 468 million project It celebrated its overcoming steel in October and will be completed in the second quarter of 2026, according to the hospital network.
The program helped with two key problems about creation: Follow -up of completion and deliveries. It prevented the team from facing the entry of fragmentary data in an Excel spreadsheet or using expensive tracking software.
Instead, users simply dragged and dropped a BIM model on the program, marking it as complete. When the steel was delivered, they scanned the bill from the administration of the delivery firm and hung it live dimensions.
“Knowing where the material is and in what state is to ensure that continuity in the field is really important, because not only stop the steel if the steel is not ready. Stop the whole project,” said Leff.
Although Leff said it was too early to evaluate whether the tool can help the mitigation reaction, it has been useful for identifying and monitoring, routine mishap that may occur during the erection process, such as screw hole desalineations and damaged beam replacement.
“Many things are the same for the course. It happens in all projects,” said Leff. “But are we really trying to understand: Is it a project in New York? Is it a particular contractor? Is it a specific manufacturer? This will happen, more or less, with certain people we collaborate with?”
A focus on innovation
Leff said that he built the software in a period of six months before the company put Suth Shore project. With the help of Matthew Chen, a digital engineering intern, Leff also turned the live dimensions of an application on a web -based platform.
The focus of Suffolk in innovation facilitated it to it the solution: the company has an internal venture capital arm, Suffolk Ventures, which invests in construction technology throughout the cycle of the building.
“We are very forward as an organization, so there is a lot of support to achieve our goals, our passions, if they fit the bill for moving our company forward,” said Leff.
If Leff built this program outside the company, he said it would be with more time restrictions.
“Here, I can understand the needs of the project at a comfortable rate, try things, reiterate, improve,” said Leff. “It’s not like being an external person trying to create a solution for someone else. You have a little more time to do things thoughtfully, and that’s why I go to a project at a time.”
