Abstract
A Building Information Model (BIM) is an attempt to simulate the process of building structures in a three-dimensional (3D) digital space. While the technology is usually applied to structured buildings, bridges, and underground facilities, it is rarely applied to an unstructured environment of earthwork operations. If a BIM is used for earthworks, the 3D simulation can be used for construction equipment guidance and earthwork management. This paper presents a real-time, 3D earthwork BIM that provides a 3D graphical simulation of excavators in conjunction with geographic modeling. Developing a real-time, 3D earthwork BIM requires handling a variety of factors, such as geographical information and vehicular movement. This paper mainly focuses on the management of these attributes and provides a database design for storing and retrieving data. In an example application, a prototype of the 3D earthwork BIM is presented to understand what it would provide when used during earthwork operations at a construction site.