Building Information Modeling for Quality Management in Infrastructure Construction Projects

With the growing use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for vertical building projects, the use of BIM in infrastructure projects steadily increases. Construction companies that build infrastructure facilities are expecting the adoption of BIM since they have observed high return on investment (ROI) resulting from BIM for vertical building projects. In this paper, the focus is placed on the utilization of BIM for quality management in highway and bridge construction. A review of the literature on quality information model and quality control process is presented. The application of BIM for quality management is described. The results of pilot study by the authors on the model-driven approach to quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) is reviewed. Finally the issues and obstacles to BIM implementation in the infrastructure sector are discussed. Discussions in this paper are the critical aspects of the utilization of BIM for quality management in infrastructure construction project. Based on the results of this study, great potential of using BIM for quality management in infrastructure projects has been identified. Nonetheless, only limited amount of literature on this topic is currently available. It is believed that this study will set a stepping stone to future research and practice for promoting BIM technology in horizontal construction projects.