Construction Magazine December 2019 | Page 56

TECHNOLOGY
56
The United Kingdom Department for Transport has embarked on a world-leading infrastructure project . By the 2030s , London will connect to Birmingham , Leeds , and Manchester via a new rail line with 18 trains per hour travelling at speeds of up to 225mph . The line , High Speed 2 ( HS2 ), builds upon more than 15 years of success of HS1 , which carries 20million passengers per year through the Channel Tunnel to and from Europe .
HS2 promises to drive economic growth , redistribute opportunity to the north of England , and support towns and cities across the UK . It will cut the travel time from London to many northern cities by nearly half while moving people and goods in a way that ’ s efficient and eco-friendly .
A project of this complexity and scope requires new levels of planning and design . It needs the integration of two key technologies : building information modeling ( BIM ) and a geographic information system ( GIS ).
I work as a GIS data specialist with the Skanska , Costain , and STRABAG Joint Venture ( SCS JV ), the group responsible for the London-portion of HS2 construction . In building the rail line from the centre of London to
DECEMBER 2019