InfraWorks 360 – cloud but a clear forecast

We've been working really hard on improving and evolving the InfraWorks offering, not to mention incorporating masses of feedback over the past few years. But with this quick, reactive and frequently updating development comes a slight downside in that it can be difficult to keep up with what's currently available.

So here's a brief, need-to-know listing of the current range of InfraWorks products that can help with collaboration and up front decision making on infrastructure projects:

1. InfraWorks – There’s a limited version of InfraWorks found in various Premium and Ultimate Design Suites. This gets you started and lets you do things like view models in full context.

   …but this is where it’s really happening:

2. InfraWorks 360 – The 360 version of InfraWorks is a very different product (in fact a totally different installation on your local computer and a separate purchase), it adds automated aggregation of data to create you a model within 15 minutes (yes, really… it’s called Model Builder!), it also adds the ability to share models via Google Chrome and the free InfraWorks 360 iPad app, for example with stakeholders or non-technical colleagues.
3. Roadway Design for InfraWorks 360 – this is a module that runs on top of InfraWorks 360 (not the limited version in suites), it adds the capability to layout road junctions, analyse visibility, optimise road profiles and produce Civil 3D drawings.
4. Bridge Design for InfraWorks 360 – this module adds the functionality of designing conceptual layouts for bridges as structures in site context; including materials, layouts and quantities. Bridge Design for InfraWorks 360 requires the Roadway Design module.
5. Drainage Design for InfraWorks 360 – this module runs straight on InfraWorks 360 and is a great tool for analysing watersheds across terrains or automatically creating and updating either culverts or even complete drainage networks.

There are also a few InfraWorks 360 cloud services that can be accessed from within the different InfraWorks products, most notably Model Builder as mentioned above for automatic, 3D model creation. Basically, you select your desired area up to 15km² and wait for the email to tell you that your model is ready for download… but as always the proof is in the pudding, so download a demo and try these different tools for yourself.

Mike Hutt