Trams to Newhaven (Edinburgh, UK) = BIM CASE STUDY
Location: Edinburgh, UK (York Place to Newhaven)
Client: Edinburgh City of Council
Value: £208m
Duration: 2020 - 2021
Role: Task Team’s Information & Interface Manager
Responsibility: Ensure BIM compliance & manage underground service coordination
Challenges:
- Coordinating complex underground utility diversions, while maintaining public safety and minimising disruption.
- Identifying and resolving underground clashes early to avoid costly construction delays.
- Ensuring all BIM deliverables met UK BIM Level 2 standards, including structured model delivery, COBie outputs, and digital handover requirements.
- Navigating differing levels of BIM maturity across project stakeholders with the contractor preferring traditional 2D outputs over models, which required additional coordination to ensure consistency & data integrity.
- Navigating differing levels of BIM knowledge across project stakeholders, with the contractor preferring traditional 2D outputs over model-based coordination.
Solutions:
- Karolina led Task Team clash detection and coordination, conducting weekly model reviews to identify and resolve underground service conflicts before they reached site.
- Developed and implemented a tailored BIM Execution Plan (BEP), ensuring alignment with COBie, LOD, and LOI requirements, and maintained delivery against BIM Level 2 expectations.
- Carried out regular BIM Quality Assurance reviews, collaborated with design teams and the client, and adapted workflows to suit both model-based and drawing-based deliverables.
- Recognised early that some contractors were not yet engaging with the federated models, which limited the impact of coordination efforts. Adjusted support accordingly while maintaining compliance.
End Result:
BIM workflows were fully established, but model engagement across the full project team varied, which ultimately impacted implementation.
Early clash detection allowed for effective internal resolution within the Task Team, but reduced model use downstream limited wider project benefits.
All deliverables were completed to BIM Level 2 standards, with structured COBie data and documented workflows ready for future reuse.
The project demonstrated the critical need for early, targeted BIM training for all key stakeholders, without this, resistance to digital processes can undermine project outcomes, even on public sector schemes.
Key Takeaways
This project clearly demonstrated that even with robust BIM processes & pro-active digital BIM Coordination, success depends on consistent buy-in and capability across all project stakeholders. Early clash detection and technical compliance were achieved within the design team, but a lack of BIM training and engagement from the contractor reduced the overall benefits of the BIM approach.
Despite completing all deliverables to BIM Level 2 standards, reliance on traditional 2D workflows downstream ultimately led to reduced project efficiencies and the contractor later disengaged from BIM processes entirely.
The project reinforced that for BIM to deliver real value, especially on complex public infrastructure, early, practical training and clear adoption strategies are essential across the entire delivery team, not just within the design phase!