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Blackburn & Darwen Borough Council

3D SCAN to BIM for structural remediation of a salt barn

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Blackburn & Darwen Borough Council, as part of their long-term relationship with Struktura, engaged us to survey their Salt Barn, a critical structure used by the Highways Maintenance team to store salt for winter road gritting. The barn had suffered significant damage, prompting a survey to assess its stability and ensure its long term stability.

We began by conducting a Point Cloud Survey of the internal and external barn structures. Using LiDAR sensors for the 3D scan process enabled us to gather comprehensive and highly accurate data in just a single site visit, reducing the project’s carbon footprint.

The data collected from the survey allowed the design team at our sister company; Vextrix, to accurately model the barn and develop detailed drawings for the required remedial repairs. Our BIM technicians used the point cloud data to prepare highly detailed plans and sections of the Salt Barn:

Project Details

Services Provided

Engineering Design, Structural Engineering

Sector

Transport and Infrastructure

Struktura Involvement

These precise measurements helped reduce design risk. Structural engineers then analysed the condition of the barn using the 3D Matterport survey, minimising the need for further site visits which subsequently reduced any site intrusion.

A secondary output of our work was a Matterport 3D virtual walkthrough of the site, allowing the client to inspect defects and tag any structural concerns. This virtual tool facilitated easy collaboration between designers, technicians, and the client, creating a valuable long-term resource to track the condition and maintenance needs of the structure.

Once the structural analysis was complete, our team designed replacement members and temporary works to support the structure during timber renewal.

Challenges Faced

There were two challenges on this project: firstly, the day before the survey was due to start the Council took advantage of cheaper pricing for Salt during the Summer period and filled the Salt Barn, therefore reducing the space available to survey. However, the Matterport and Point Cloud survey gave us sufficient detail in areas towards the rear of the barn that the design model could still be produced.

Although rarely seen by the public, Salt Barns are incredibly complex structures built from precision-engineered, timber-stressed skin panels protected by a durable shingle cover to prevent weather ingress. The detailing required to produce a model of the barn was time consuming and complex, although once a segment was complete it could be replicated around the model. Each single panel had multiple levels, slope angles and dimensions that were difficult to model without the combination of a point cloud and the Matterport 3D visual walkthrough to review details.

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