Hawkins' ideal process is to get involved with the owner, designer, planner and supplier right at the start of the project.
"Bringing the parties together triples the horsepower of solving the problems and issues -- and the planning and construction is at a higher level of detail," says Bishop. "You get greater certainty in the outcome, and the cost and time involved can be reduced."
Hawkins calls this process "early contractor involvement". The Auckland-based company has applied the process for the upgrade of streets in the Wynyard Quarter regeneration project that have been turned into tree-lined, pedestrian-friendly connections.
"Traditionally, the work has come to us after the design and we are already committed to the solutions," says Dan Williams, Hawkins Infrastructure's northern regional manager.
"We may dig down and find the services -- pipes, ducts and cables -- in the wrong places, and they clash with existing utilities. This takes time and extra cost to sort out. We can develop a (construction) method in a virtual environment before the shovel is put in the ground. We can pass over existing services, don't have to go near gas mains, and there's less disruption to the ground.
"The workforce is more efficient because they have a virtualisation of the plan rather than having to thumb through pages and pages of one-dimensional drawings."
Bishop says: "It's about using smart planning tools." Hawkins is going a step further and adding a 4D layer to the BIM that estimates the construction time based on avoiding the clashes and conflicts associated with the utilities.
He says the BIM has the ability to go to 5D and zoom in on a pipe to discover its history and condition.
Hawkins believes more pre-fabricated work can be completed in the factory. "With the right detailed modelling, larger steel and concrete components can be made in the factory, creating more control of assembly and quality as well as reducing truck movements to the site," says Bishop. "Services can be pre-wired, and the tying of steel for pre-cast concrete can be done on the ground rather than at a height, improving safety."
Hawkins has done infrastructure modelling along the proposed City Rail Link route, and it is upgrading Halsey St south and Gaunt St (to Daldy St) in the Wynyard Quarter.
The parties involved came together at the design concept stage. "We pulled all the hard copy drawings of the utilities into one scale," says Williams. "We used ground-penetrating radar to create an image of the subsurface, and identify clashes with the services. We provided a model that created the least disruption to the ground. We worked with Auckland Transport on traffic planning and designers on consenting.
"The parties knew what we were building and how we were building it. It made stakeholder engagements a lot easier. We could tell the nearby Sofitel Hotel there will be no vibratory sheet piling," says Williams.
When the project is completed, the Hawkins team will upgrade Pakenham West and Madden Streets through to Beaumont St -- completing the streetscape in the heart of the Quarter.
This area will include apartments, the GridAKL innovation precinct and Auckland Theatre Company's new building, being built by Hawkins.
"The streets will have trees and other plantings, rain gardens, seating and a slow speed environment all at one level. In three years time it will be an impressive area," Bishop says.
