{"id":730262,"date":"2025-01-14T05:33:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-14T13:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=730262"},"modified":"2026-02-23T15:32:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T23:32:06","slug":"ohla-digital-twin","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/ohla-digital-twin","title":{"rendered":"Drones, Digital Twins Boost Collaboration on Complex Project"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[471802,23372,180122,21622,141],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-730262","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-aec","tag-bim","tag-construction","tag-digital-twin","tag-drones","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"Clear communication via GIS software, drones, and BIM models helped one contractor improve worksite productivity.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Miguel Am\u00e9rigo believes that poor data sharing and lack of coordination are major culprits behind the global construction industry\u2019s long-standing productivity issues<\/a>."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Snapshot<\/strong>: The company building a major road connecting two highways tamed complexity and strengthened communication through drones, digital twins, and location technology.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cInformation is power, [but] it\u2019s very difficult to exchange information among the members of the value chain, which is something that happens all the time in other industries,\u201d says Am\u00e9rigo, corporate head of R&D and innovation at OHLA, a construction industry leader headquartered in Madrid, Spain.\r\n\r\nTo address this, Am\u00e9rigo and his team at OHLA are pioneering a collaborative approach using drone imagery, digital twins<\/a> generated by geographic information system (GIS) software, and building information modeling (BIM) data. They\u2019re piloting the approach on a $47 million bypass road in Spain\u2019s C\u00e1ceres province that will serve 5,000 daily drivers. With a dashboard powered by GIS<\/a>, project managers can easily share real-time updates, field data, and worksite representations with subcontractors, community members, the project owner, and regulators.\r\n\r\n\u201cThere are a lot of actors involved in a construction site,\u201d Am\u00e9rigo says. \u201cGIS helps us very much regarding communication and coordination and collaboration.\u201d\r\n

OHLA and the Monumental Task of Moving Materials\u2014and Data<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe Malpartida bypass road project, awarded to OHLA by Spain\u2019s Ministry of Transport, Mobility, and Urban Agenda (MITMA), extends six miles through multiple municipalities.\r\n\r\nConstruction requires massive amounts of material and data\u201412,000 cubic meters of concrete, 10 tons of asphalt, and 65,000 drone images. Workers must be kept safe, and residents expect to be apprised of possible disruptions to their schedules."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Related:<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDigital twin technology at Cisco, BNSF, and SJI<\/a>","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"As blasting holes are drilled and cement is poured, GIS, BIM, and drones provide leaders visual updates on the project and tools to manage communication among stakeholders.\r\n\r\nFrom a single screen, contractors access a 2D map of the area surrounding the road, a 3D digital twin of the entire worksite (see video), and important project documents.\r\n\r\nThe GIS-based digital twin started delivering value even before construction began, when OHLA helped the client visualize sections of the future bypass."},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_loka90v6","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Now that construction is underway, the dashboard acts as a command center for information exchange and decision-making. Stakeholders quickly find up-to-date data like field surveys, environmental hazard records, or drainage installation assembly parts. That single source of truth reduces miscommunication and speeds up project delivery.\r\n\r\n\u201cAll information is in one unique place on this dashboard, and you have the possibility to access it at the right moment,\u201d says Manuel Carpintero, OHLA\u2019s design and BIM manager, who oversaw the implementation of the digital twin technology. \u201cYou can access [the information] in different ways, but it's hosted in one place,\u201d he continues. \u201cEverything is clear.\u201d\r\n

How GIS, BIM, and Drones Accelerate Project Communication<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nInstead of sifting through beige folders, a manager can navigate a 3D map to the work area. Clicking a color-coded cone, such as one on an overpass, reveals the name of the responsible security manager and the risk-mitigation plan, such as adding protective barriers with railings.\r\n\r\nOn large infrastructure projects<\/a>, transparency with the public is key. If the pathway of the bypass road changes, an OHLA project manager can consult the dashboard to see which landowners might be affected and alert them. \u201cCommunication is faster with communities here,\u201d Carpintero says of the new approach.\r\n\r\nExecutives in many industries are waking up to the potential for digital twins<\/a> to help businesses navigate space and time. On the Malpartida bypass road project, drones capture site imagery monthly, and the data is fed into GIS software. From different locations on the map, an analyst can open drone photos captured at various stages of construction. The images demonstrate progress to MITMA stakeholders, and compliance to environmental regulators.\r\n\r\nAm\u00e9rigo says the combination of drones, GIS, and BIM has won over workers who might have been wary of new technologies. \u201cWhen they start to see the work ongoing, the information you have when the problems arise, and you use this platform to solve [problems] and interact with the other stakeholders, they start to see the benefits,\u201d he explains.\r\n

The Importance of Visual Accuracy for Communication and Planning<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nOrganizations in search of improved efficiency and communication have turned to GIS to track everything from spare computer parts<\/a> crisscrossing the globe to the routes of home-visit nurses<\/a>.\r\n\r\nAt OHLA, the use of drone imagery and the need to see projects as digital twins spurred a greater role for location technology.\r\n\r\n\u201cGIS became the support for this information, which was previously generated and used differently,\u201d Am\u00e9rigo says. \u201cI think that\u2019s the tipping point for the use of GIS from a general contractor point of view.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn construction, an accurate site picture is crucial for planning and communication. Location technology and drone imagery give deskbound executives on-the-ground clarity, allowing them to see conditions like a rainy night or measure clearance under an overpass with just a click.\r\n\r\nAm\u00e9rigo, Carpintero, and others believe this new approach could be the technological shot in the arm needed by an industry where productivity decreased by 8 percent<\/a> from 2020 to 2022.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe as general contractors, one of our main interests is to promote this kind of collaboration and information-sharing because it\u2019s absolutely a very important point for our productivity,\u201d Am\u00e9rigo says."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nCommunication, Collaboration at OHLA Get Boost from Drones, Digital Twins<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the construction experts at OHLA, a bypass road was a complex task that could be simplified through innovative technology.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta 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