Introduction
The South Carolina Department of Transportation is conducting an environmental assessment to widen approximately six miles of highway I–26 near Ridgeville, SC to improve traffic operations, accommodate projected volumes, and address existing geometric deficiencies. “With all the industry that is all around Ridgeville right now, we’ve got to have it.” said Robby Robbins, chairman of the SCDOT Commission and commissioner for the state’s First Congressional District in a news interview. “Volvo being on the other side (of town) and there’s more coming—so yea, we’re going to have to have the ability to move people in this area.”
The Proposed Improvements
The proposed project includes adding a third lane in each direction, replacing two mainline bridges, reconfiguring the SC–27 interchange, and various other improvements. Prime design consultant Mead & Hunt of Charleston, SC developed three alternative designs for the SC–27 interchange including an expanded rural diamond interchange, a partial cloverleaf configuration, and a compressed diamond interchange with roundabouts.
Existing Conditions
Diamond Configuration
Partial Cloverleaf Configuration
Compressed Diamond with Roundabouts Configuration
The Public Meeting
A public meeting was held in January, 2019 to present these designs to the public and solicit their feedback. To facilitate clear communication SCDOT and Mead & Hunt turned to RDV Systems to develop a virtual 3–D project visualization model showing the existing conditions and all three alternatives. “We saw that this portion of the project would be difficult to explain clearly with just plan sheets and aerial overlays. We needed a way to show each alternatively realistically and simulate multiple points–of– view”, said Mead & Hunt project manager Dan Moses.
“With the RDV model, we were able to show the different designs in a fully interactive environment, create multiple poster boards images and simulate drive-throughs for the various configurations.”
Dan Moses
Senior Project Manager
I-26 / SC-27 Interchange – Tree Level
I-26 / SC-27 Interchange – Drone Level
RDV began working on the 3–D model in mid–November 2018 and delivered the finalized model in January 2019. Early reviews of the model led to a number of design “tweaks” that were incorporated into the final version. Mead & Hunt and SCDOT used RDV’s 123bim.com web collaboration system to create and share the presentation images and videos within the project team, and used RDV’s 123BIM Navigator desktop application to show the model in an interactive environment.
Virtual Tour
Scan the QR code with your
smartphone or tablet for a 123BIM
interactive Virtual Tour
Or use this URL:
https://vtour.123bim.com/RAANI/
