The challengeSouza, True and Partners, Inc. provides a full range of structural engineering advice and design services to architects, owners and contractors in the development of new structures and renovation of existing structures.

As a client focused company it worked closely with clients to provide the most efficient designs and results, always staying on time and within budget. It was this commitment to providing the best customer service that made Souza, True and Partners consider investing in Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Structural BIM in particular.

“Fastrak has allowed us to take advantage of BIM in a way that we were unable to before.”

Lin Gallant, AssociateSouza, True and Partners, Inc.

Fact file

Name: Souza, True and Partners Inc.

Location: Waltham, MA, USA

Incorporated: 1959

CSC products: Fastrak

Key benefits of Fastrak: Using Fastrak to design complex steel

buildings & leverage Structural BIM, reducing

errors & saving valuable design time.

Structural BIM is where the structural engineer and the technician streamline the design process by sharing project data internally within the structural design office, synchronizing the code-compliant design model produced by the engineer with the technician’s BIM model for project documentation. The existing software and methods being used by Souza, True and Partners were out of date and the company felt it was no longer keeping up with industry trends, or offering BIM interoperability to its clients.

After trying various ineffective workarounds, the engineers were still creating two separate models of the same structure, in two separate software packages, for each project. The engineers knew that this was an inefficient way to work and decided to invest in a software package that could model complex structures but also had the proven BIM integration needed.

The solutionSouza, True and Partners found the ideal solution in CSC’s Fastrak software. Fastrak is advanced design software that allows users to design complex steel buildings and offers full Structural BIM integration with BIM platforms like Autodesk® Revit® and Tekla® Structures.

The first complete steel framed building Souza, True and Partners modeled in Fastrak was the 451 Marlborough Street Project in Boston, MA. This 30,000 square foot building consisted of a five storey steel framed condominium structure built upon a one story concrete garage. Incorporating multi-tiered exterior terraces and a rooftop pool, the structure comprised of composite steel framing, reinforced concrete shear walls and steel moment frames for the lateral systems.

A challenge arose when the primary architects changed midway though the project. The original architects, who remained involved in the project as the

interior designer, used Autodesk® Revit®

but the new company used AutoCAD software instead.

Souza, True and Partners was able to solve this problem quickly using Fastrak as the primary analysis and design tool for the project. The Fastrak designs would be quickly integrated into Autodesk®

Revit® for co-ordiantion with the original architect before exporting these plans and sections to AutoCAD for the fine detailing and co-oridnation with the new architect.

As well as the obvious time saving benefits afforded by the information sharing between software packages, avoiding the need for duplicating models and work, Fastrak was also pivitol in detecting clashes between designs, making changes quick and easy to complete.

The resultSouza, True and Partners saved time creating and maintaining multiple models by integrating Fastrak with Autodesk® Revit®. Workflows initiated in either package and intelligently integrated halve design time and reduce potential errors. Typically the engineers start in Fastrak as the model connectivity is easy but occasionally a project may require them to import elements such as levels and grids from Autodesk® Revit® first instead.

This flexibility allows documentation to be created much faster than the previous software methods which could not utilize the two way integration of Structural BIM.

By quickly creating the Autodek® Revit®

“Fastrak is the best steel analysis and design software available for increasing design efficiencies.”Lin Gallant, P.E., Associate at Souza, True and Partners, Inc.

Discover the benefits of Fastrak for yourselfVisit: www.cscworld.com

model the engineering team could easily co-ordinate with the client. They could even provide estimated material take-offs that could be used to compare bids from multiple steel fabricators and erectors, adding value to the client.

Without Fastrak, Souza, True and Partners would have been much less efficient and unable to meet budget requirements.

“Fastrak is a key component to continually providing excellent and efficient structural designs for our clients. It is an important part of our company’s future.”Lin Gallant, AssociateSouza, True and Partners, Inc.