Engineering and Consulting Firm Uses Autodesk BIM Solutions on BIM Pilot Project for U.S. General Services Administration

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) today announced that Walter P Moore, an engineering and consulting firm that specializes in structural and infrastructure engineering, has been selected to receive a Revit BIM Experience Award. The firm is being honored for its commitment to BIM and its use of Autodesk building information modeling (BIM) solutions, including Revit Structure, AutoCAD Civil 3D and Autodesk NavisWorks software solutions, to collaborate with extended design teams on large-scale projects. Walter P Moore is also being recognized for its use of Revit Structure and Autodesk NavisWorks solutions for clash detection on the H3-designed Federal Courthouse in Jackson, Miss., a pilot BIM Project for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The Revit BIM Experience Award is presented to commercial firms, educational institutions and individuals for innovation and excellence in implementing the Autodesk Revit platform (which includes Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and Revit MEP software applications) on one or more projects.

"Our experiences to date have built our passion for the BIM process, and we have moved aggressively to incorporate Revit Structure and AutoCAD Civil 3D as our BIM platforms of choice," said Jim Jacobi, P.E., senior principal and CIO, Walter P Moore. "The automatic coordination of the construction documentation and design model, the use of a single model for both design and structural analysis, and the opportunity for inter-discipline design coordination and clash detection make the Revit platform for BIM worth its weight in gold."

Walter P Moore is an award-winning engineering and consulting firm that specializes in structural and infrastructure engineering. Founded in 1931, Walter P Moore is headquartered in Houston, Texas and has more than 400 professionals in 12 offices coast-to-coast. An early adopter of Revit Structure, Walter P Moore has used the software in production since the fall of 2005 on 90 projects to date, including 45 projects completed through to construction documentation. The firm has built a reputation for mastering engineering challenges, a notable example being the Houston Astrodome, the world's first domed stadium. The practice undertakes a large variety of building types, from convention centers, performance halls and sports stadiums to corporate campuses and urban infrastructure and roadway systems.

BIM is an integrated workflow built on coordinated, reliable information about a project from design through construction and into operations. By adopting BIM, architects, engineers, contractors and owners can easily create coordinated, digital design information and documentation; use that information to more accurately visualize, simulate, and analyze performance, appearance and cost; and reliably deliver the project faster, more economically and with reduced environmental impact. Avatech Solutions, an Autodesk Premier Solutions Provider, introduced Walter P Moore to BIM with the Revit platform, Autodesk NavisWorks and AutoCAD Civil 3D, and provided assistance with training and implementation.

Multi-Firm Team Uses BIM for Major GSA Pilot Program

Walter P Moore is currently working on the new U.S. Federal Courthouse project in Jackson, Mississippi. The $92.4 million, 410,000 square feet, eight-level facility, currently under construction, will house six district courtrooms, three magistrate courtrooms, three bankruptcy courtrooms, and 14 chambers. As a landmark project for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) BIM pilot program, the Walter P Moore engineering team used Revit Structure and Autodesk NavisWorks solutions to collaborate on models with H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture of New York (who designed the facility using Revit Architecture) and MEP consultant Cook, Douglass, Farr, Lemons, Ltd. Using a sharable model, all project stakeholders could simultaneously visualize and analyze the design, as well as detect clashes before construction. As a part of the BIM pilot program, material schedules were extracted from the model for use in comparing against the material quantities developed by the contractor using a traditional approach of estimating quantities from the drawings alone.

"Autodesk applauds Walter P Moore for its total commitment to BIM, including AutoCAD Civil 3D, the Revit platform and Autodesk NavisWorks," said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, Autodesk AEC Solutions. "The Mississippi Federal Courthouse is a model of how BIM is expanding multi-discipline collaboration and a clear demonstration of the value of using BIM to support integrated practice."

About the Revit BIM Experience Award

The Revit BIM Experience Award celebrates building industry professionals and educators around the world who are helping to drive transformation of the building industry through building information modeling. Autodesk honors firms with this award for innovation and excellence in implementing the Autodesk Revit platform (including Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and Revit MEP software applications) for building information modeling on one or more projects.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art digital prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit http://www.autodesk.com.

Autodesk, AutoCAD, Civil 3D, NavisWorks and Revit are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.

(C) 2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Contact: Noah Cole, 503-707-3872
Email: noah.cole@autodesk.com

SOURCE Autodesk, Inc.

CONTACT: Noah Cole of Autodesk, Inc., +1-503-707-3872, noah.cole@autodesk.com
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