Tunnel Digitalization Center – Beyond BIM in underground construction

Digitalization opens the possibility of avoiding the waste of three very important assets. We can minimize the unnecessary loss of materials, time, and information by optimizing our use, presentation, and exchange of data. The more complex a construction is, the higher the number of participants in a project are, the bigger the infrastructure network of which a tunnel is part of, the better the digitalization shows its advantages. Digital continuity is the key for cross-phase and cross-divisional system solutions. With the help of 7 industry partners, under the coordination of the Swiss Center of Applied Technologies (SCAUT) the aim of the Tunnel Digitalization Center (TDC) is to showcase and develop new use-cases among very different stakeholders to innovate and demonstrate thirds the complex digital processes in a real environment. With this project, SCAUT aims to make an important contribution to the digitalization of the whole tunnelling industry. From BIM and electromechanical equipment to operation and digital services in maintenance, several possible applications of the digital twin: at the TDC solutions across the entire value chain and life cycle are demonstrated. It allows demonstration and simulation in a realistic environment. Innovative uses cases, like cloud solutions, BIM and IoT for tunnelling are part of it. In this paper the concept of the TDC is going to be presented, and the use cases shown there focusing on simulations, commissioning, operation, and maintenance.