Abstract:

With multi-million dollar investments in transportation projects, institutional expansions, and private developments, it is critical that project stakeholders fully understand their design options before committing to an approach. Unfortunately, this can be a daunting challenge, one that grows exponentially with the complexity of the project. However, new technologies and applications are enabling increasingly sophisticated visualizations to be generated rapidly, early on in the design process. This brings options to life for the lay person and helps stakeholders understand their options and reach the right decision—one that will impact their communities for decades to come. VHB leverages a modeling approach, beginning with preliminary design, using technology from a variety of vendors to provide a clear design vision and engage project teams early on in the decision-making process. These technologies allow rapid creation of design alternatives in 3D, which can then be leveraged in visualization tools to show our design’s impact to the community. We will present four VHB projects that illustrate how different methods of visualizations can be leveraged to clearly define the differences in alternative designs. The visualization tools escalate in sophistication, showing how we can communicate geometric changes, traffic movements, or more complex structural changes to project teams. Roadway Widening and Reconfiguration in Nash County, NC When a roadway near Nash Community College needed to be widened to accommodate increased use, VHB used still renderings to communicate design intent with a realistic, easy-to-understand visualization. The images captured changes in traffic patterns resulting from reconfigured intersections, roundabouts, and on- and off-ramps. Kelley Square Revitalization in Worcester, MA For the Kelley Square project, designed with MassDOT and the City of Worcester, VHB is providing engineering services for roadway, intersection, traffic control, landscape, and hardscape improvements, including a “peanut roundabout,” a first of its kind in Massachusetts. Although there were no major grade changes, the project scope was significant. We used a video rendering simulating an aerial fly-over to clearly demonstrate the impacts of these changes on the way the intersections functioned as well as how they looked aesthetically. General Sullivan Bridge Rehabilitation in Seacoast, NH One of New Hampshire’s Little Bay Bridges, the General Sullivan Bridge needed to be rehabilitated and widened to accommodate eight lanes of traffic. NHDOT was committed to enrolling Seacoast stakeholders and an advisory task force in evaluating design options, so VHB modeled a set of detailed alternatives from different vantage points to show how the bridge and pedestrian access would be affected. Improving Pedestrian Access at James Madison University VHB created an innovative design that bridged two parts of JMU’s campus, improved safety, and added beautiful parkland space. The proposed land bridge topped with green space was impossible to convey adequately with 2D plans, so VHB modeled the design at different scales and perspectives, giving JMU’s architectural review board a clear understanding of the complex bridge structure, landscaping vision, structural design vision, and civil engineering plan.