Connected Structural Group Creates Complex Structures with Nemetschek Solutions

Munich, Las Vegas, 17 June 2021 – Connected Structural Group, a US-based provider of structural engineering and steel detailing, is using Bluebeam, SDS2, and RISA to build casinos, airports, hospitals, campuses, and other facilities. In 90 percent of their projects, these three Nemetschek Group solutions play an essential role. The benefits include improved interoperability, increased efficiency, and better results.

CSG started working with Building Information Modeling (BIM) 15 years ago. Technology has been key to enabling the company to get involved with large projects.

CSG is working on a broad range of high-rise, complex structures such as casinos, airports, hospitals, campuses, and other facilities in the US. The company also has an engineering division, Connected Structural Engineers (CSE). All the projects designed by CSG and CSE use BIM for cost estimates, simulations, scheduling, energy analysis, structural design, fabrication, erection, and facilities management. The company trusts in three Nemetschek Group products on 90 percent of its projects as the basis for their design and fabrication processes.

CSG has been using SDS2 from the very beginning of the company in 2006, when the industry started to turn towards 3D modeling. SDS2 was chosen as opposed to Revit, so that they could use it for both the design and fabrication stages. In addition, James Warner, founder and owner of Connected Structural Group (CSG), has been using the engineering software RISA for 20 years and the collaboration software Bluebeam Revu for ten years.

In CSG’s workflow, almost every project starts with SDS2 as the model base. SDS2 is used for 80 percent of CSG’s steel detailing and 20 percent structural design from the ground up. Bluebeam is then leveraged for collaboration both in and out of the office. “Before we started to use Bluebeam, our processes were challenging. We were prone to losing track of a document once it was sent around the office for checking and redlining. With Bluebeam everyone sees the markups, who has picked up that markup, and then it can be back-checked,” Warner explains. “With more people working remotely these days – especially during the pandemic – we are also benefiting significantly from Bluebeam’s real-time collaboration features.”

RISA is used to analyze the structure during construction for erection sequencing, temporary loading, stability, and deflection. The technology also helps with seismic winds when dealing with structures; tall structures in particular would take months to analyze without specialized software.

For CSG, the additional benefits of working with the Nemetschek solutions include the interoperability between programs and Nemetschek’s customer focus. “The support centers are always prompt at getting back and supporting us to get new products up and running,” Warner said. “And the Nemetschek Group has a very interesting portfolio – we are currently also looking at Solibri. The model coordination and checker functionality could be extremely helpful for us,” he concluded.