ORIS Civil 3D Plugin for Autodesk Revolutionises Highways Design

Our Civil 3D plugin came to life thanks to our partnership with Sweco and Autodesk. It enables designers to focus on assessing the carbon footprint at the early design stages of highway projects when low-carbon incentives have the highest impact and are more feasible, improving materials' circularity and sustainability.  

Our plugin is genuinely breaking ground. That’s why it’s now shortlisted for the Department for Transport (DfT) United Kingdom Special Recognition Awards in no less than 3 categories. 

A hat-trick for ORIS Civil 3D plugin with the DfT United Kingdom Special Recognition Awards

Here are the 3 categories where our Civil 3D plugin appears as one of the finalists:

• Best Use of Technology
• Net Zero Project of the Year
• Transport Technology Innovation

This year’s Strictly Highways, with the Local Council Roads Innovation Group (LCRIG), seems very promising for our partner Sweco and us. 

We’re proud that our Civil 3D plugin represents an effective and useful tool for highway designers. It has shaped an innovative way to conceive highways and reduced the impact on the environment.

The event will occur from 1-3 October, and the winners will be announced on  October 2. 

In the meantime, let’s look closer at our Civil 3D plugin to see how it revolutionises highway design.

How does the ORIS Civil 3D plugin work?

Our Civil 3D plugin is an Autodesk add-in that provides automatic carbon impact assessments directly within the design process. 

The goal of designers is to conceive and deliver the most efficient highway network for all users. They have a million ins and outs of a project to take in mind or consider. But what about sustainability? Can it have a role to play in the conception phase?

At ORIS, we know the answer is yes. Sweco, our partner for the Civil 3D plugin, also knows it’s yes.

One way of ensuring a low-carbon impact on infrastructure is to assess materials. What materials are best suited for this project? Which materials are the closest to the building site? 

Our Civil 3D plugin gives designers all the information to visualize sustainability impacts across the supply chain. 

It unveils the life cycle assessment of a whole infrastructure project, from conception to maintenance and use.

Then, designers can make informed decisions accordingly.

This means that what usually took several hours now takes minutes thanks to automatic calculations provided by the plugin. 

Technology is at the service of highway designers. Not the other way around.

What are the benefits of our plugin?

The ORIS plugin is a state-of-the-art tool for highway designers. Here are just 7 of its benefits:

• Time and Cost Savings: 98% time reduction through automated analysis translates to project cost savings.

• Enhanced Sustainability: by enabling early-stage optimisation for carbon reduction, the plugin supports the creation of more environmentally friendly infrastructure.

• Improved Accuracy: 100% automated data transfer from ORIS to the Civil 3D drawings reducing the risk of human error in carbon assessments.

• Competitive Advantage: as noted by Sweco's Stuart Guthrie, the plugin allows teams to "provide additional low-carbon alternatives to our clients", enhancing competitiveness in the market.

• Educational Tool: it increases awareness and understanding of carbon impacts among engineers and designers, hence upskilling and fostering a culture of sustainability within the transportation industry.

• Versatility: it can be used in the design of highways, airfields, railroads, and container ports.

• Local Economic Support: by mapping and prioritising local material sources, the plugin encourages investment in local production, potentially stimulating economic growth in project communities.

ORIS Civil 3D plugin developed with Sweco

This plugin's efficiency and accuracy are possible thanks to our close partnership with Sweco, especially with Stuart Guthrie, Sweco UK Technical Director and Project Lead.

Indeed, Sweco implemented testing and debugging so that we could co-create this innovative solution, which would represent an asset for highway and road designers. 

Read out Sweco’s take on the plugin: Automated Carbon Impact Assessment for Highways Schemes

Designing highway networks AND acting on sustainable development has never been easier thanks to our Civil 3D plugin. We can shape tomorrow’s infrastructure.