Subtera (https://subtera.com.au/) supported Main Roads Western Australia on the Bakers Hill Road project by using 12d Model to deliver accurate subsurface utility data, helping improve design accuracy, identify potential clashes, and plan asset relocations and costs with greater confidence.

The task was to map all the subsurface utilities in Bakers Hill, WA – not a small undertaking! Main Roads WA needed this accurate information on the subsurface utilities in Bakers Hill WA to complete their design of a new road, in various formats, including from 12d Model.

Civil designers need their designs to work in the real world, and existing underground infrastructure can cause major issues. The existing records for the asset owners can be accessed through Dial Before You Dig (DBYD), but the spatial accuracy of these records is often not precise enough – in general there is a lot more underground than these records indicate, and the designers need data they can trust…enter subsurface utility locaters.

Dale Shearsmith’s team proceeded to locate all known Quality D utilities via Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and electromagnetic locaters. They then potholed for Quality Level A data.

SUI AS5488 (Classification of Subsurface Utility Information)

This Standard was prepared by Standards Australia Committee IT-036. The objective of this Standard is to provide utility owners, operators and locators with a framework for the consistent classification of information concerning subsurface utilities.

This Standard is intended to be used by those agencies and organisations that own, operate or regulate subsurface utility infrastructure and those that collect, depict and map such infrastructure. This Standard is also intended to be used by developers and consent authorities involved in the planning, approval and installation of subsurface utility infrastructure.

Subtera Methodology

To provide consistent data across projects, Subtera uses the following methodology

• Take Quality Level C & D data and validate it to Quality Level A & B
• Collate “As Constructed” drawings of the subsurface infrastructure
• Ensure these utilities are located and surveyed
• Search for “Unknown” subsurface utilities at the final stage
• Every “Known” and “Unknown” utility will be accounted for in our field report providing an audit trail
• We adhere to all asset owners regulations when accessing manholes and infrastructure and hold accreditions for ATCO High Pressure Gas, Telstra Fibre and the Watercorp
• All works are carried out with a focus on Zero Harm to our employees and the public as outlined in our HSSE documentation

By delivering data to the AS5488 standard, the team was able to qualify the data with attributes, which flow through the design process, allowing Main Roads to accurately budget for asset relocations as well as trust the clash detections listed and integrate some of the utilities that were already there, allowing for more saving of money.

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The Civil and Surveying Institute, the largest and most experienced provider of authorised 12d Model training courses, offers a range of training courses in different formats. This course is designed to be accessible to all 12d Model users. For the best learning experience, familiarity with the MTF is highly recommended, as the standard components are based on native MTF commands. While it is not required, completing the Civil Design Basics course beforehand will also give you a solid foundation and help you get the most out of the training.

Enrol in the entire course for only $250(AUD) excl GST

This Self-Paced Online Training course includes 3 hours 40 minutes of on-demand video training, allowing you to learn at your own pace with structured guidance.

– As a part of the course, trainees access:

– 12d Model 15 licence for 3 months

– 23 tailored video lessons

– Full lifetime access to the 12d Model training content

– Practical and engaging quizzes

– Certificate of Completion

This course introduces the power of Snippets in 12d Model through the graphical user interface in the Snippet Components panel, showing how they can make design work faster, more flexible, and more efficient than traditional methods. You’ll learn how the MTF Snippet Apply, Snippet Manager, and Snippet Components work together to quickly create snippets and multiple Apply MTF Functions using reference strings, MTF seed files, and snippet parameters. The course also takes you through building a complete road snippet from scratch, combining familiar MTF commands with custom components to create road surfaces, table drains, batter benching, pavement layers, and other design elements directly from a cross-section.

You’ll also develop practical skills for managing more advanced snippet requirements, including the use of Parameters, Tokens, and Link Variables, customised chainages, conditional logic, and complex sub-layers. The course covers automatic parameters for retrieving project attributes and publishing custom attributes to support BIM compliance, as well as techniques for managing layer conflicts. To help you work confidently with and troubleshoot snippets, you’ll also learn how to encrypt and protect your snippets, structure workspaces effectively, interpret parsing logs, and use MTF flattening to identify and resolve errors.

Enrol Today: Civil and Surveying Institute. Self-Paced: Snippet Components – 12d Model 15

Piritahi is a large scale construction alliance in Auckland, New Zealand, delivering the civil engineering and infrastructure needed to support thousands of new state homes. Working for Kāinga Ora, Piritahi is undertaking one of New Zealand’s largest urban regeneration programmes, a five year, approximately NZ$1 billion programme spanning around 52 square kilometres across six established Auckland neighbourhoods. The project involves replacing ageing infrastructure and enabling the redevelopment of thousands of state homes, all while working within complex brownfield environments and around existing homes, services, roads and residents.

With a project of this scale, effective collaboration and data management are essential. 12d Model and 12d Synergy have played a key role in helping Piritahi manage the volume and complexity of its design, survey and construction information. 12d Model has been used across multiple disciplines to develop 3D designs for roads, stormwater and sewer networks, existing services and intersections, while also integrating with GIS platforms, Revit, XP SWMM, 3D scanning and drone survey data. 12d Synergy provides a central platform for around 500 users across the alliance, enabling teams to securely access, manage and collaborate on project information from anywhere. Its cloud-based setup became particularly valuable during COVID 19 lockdowns, allowing teams to continue working remotely while maintaining a single source of truth and a clear audit trail.

Together, these digital tools have helped Piritahi create a more connected and efficient approach to design, construction and data management. From 3D modelling and clash detection to GIS visualisation, augmented reality and construction survey data, information can be shared between teams and fed back into the design process. By using technology to support collaboration throughout the project lifecycle, Piritahi is not only helping to deliver complex infrastructure more efficiently but also contributing to a broader goal: creating safe, warm and dry homes for communities across Auckland.

Master Shares provide a practical way to share models and TINs between projects when using 12d Model with 12d Synergy. To access the Master Share Manager, go to Project > Sharing > Share Manager, or use the sharing toolbar. Before creating a Master Share file, the required models and TINs must first be made available for sharing. This can be done through the Share Manager or through the Share Models Out and Share TINs Out options. Once the required data has been selected, save the changes and check in the project through Project > 12d Synergy > Check-in Project so the updated sharing information is synchronised with the Synergy server.

When creating a Master Share file, use the Share Out tab and select Add New Master Share. It is recommended to store Master Share files in a dedicated Master Shares folder rather than inside individual working projects. This makes the files easier for users to locate and manage, particularly in a Synergy environment where projects are regularly checked in and out. When adding the source project, 12d Synergy users should select Access by 12d Synergy Data Management Server and browse to the required project. Avoid selecting Store Relative Path, as this can cause the Master Share to reference workspace data rather than the Synergy-managed project data. For easier management, it is also recommended to use one project per Master Share file, even though multiple projects can be included.

To add a Master Share to another project, go to the Share In tab and select Add New Master Share. Browse to the dedicated Master Shares folder, select the required file and save it to synchronise the data. The models and TINs included in the Master Share can then be added to the project. Once a project is subscribed to a Master Share, any additional models or TINs added by the Master Share owner will become available after the next synchronisation. This provides an efficient way of keeping shared project data up to date without manually transferring individual files between projects.

The Master Share logging and status information is also a useful tool for checking that data is being referenced correctly. A green status indicates that everything is working correctly, while orange indicates a warning and red indicates an error. When using 12d Synergy, users should check that the Master Share is referencing a Synergy path. If a local or workspace path is displayed instead, the Master Share may not have been shared correctly through Synergy, potentially resulting in outdated data or synchronisation issues. The logging information can also be expanded to identify the source file, models and TINs included, while options such as Edit File and Explore Folder can help users investigate and troubleshoot Master Share issues.

Watch the video here: