Interesting report on the use of Tekla on a UK NetworkRail job.
" It was also considered that the highly complex geometry of certain key steel structures would be impractical to model in detail within the federated design model."
" It was recognised that the core technology platform adopted did not lend itself to the level of detail typically required by fabricators and others in the civil engineering supply."
This complexity threshold was not hard to cross given the lack of detail tools that came with OBD's Structural Modeler origins.
But even with the incorporation of ProStructures into OBD, there will still be the need to Ref attach ProStructures info in OBD. Interesting to note that Tekla was also used for the rebar detailing.
This was a problem with V8i, hopefully resolved or soon to be resolved in CE? Patching this gap would be welcome to existing OBD clients and an opportunity, given the cost and conversion overhards.
The division between design intent and fabrication models is here to stay. We will need to be able to generate documents using the federated models regardless of source. On more enlightened projects where Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) is available, this hybrid working will come onboard even earlier.
BVs that can deal with both types of models will be essential for minimising duplication. Drawings will be still be required, especially for the early stages for the usual reasons. Hopefully, Bentley are not thinking that if they wait long enough they will go away