Why Istram?

In the last 30 years Istram has been solving the market requirements and also their clients ones, who have contributed to the development of the multiple tools that the software has now. We can say that is a software tailored to the users’ needs.

Following we quote the main advantages of using ISTRAM highlighted by our users::

• TIME REDUCTION AND COST SAVINGS, INCREASE IN PRODUCTIVITY. Thanks to the power of calculation and BIM design, which allows working with large volumes of information (millions of points from field data (drone, lidar, scanner, etc.), long axes in BIM Corridor projects, complex calculations in Construction Control and Monitoring…), results can be achieved quickly and without the need for high-end equipment or dividing projects into sections.
• INCORPORATED STANDARD. ISTRAM® BIM has the standard of dozens of countries directly incorporated into the software, so you can check if your projects are adapted to the regulations of the country where the project is developed. You won’t need to acquire or download external plugins or use Excel spreadsheets. The development team is constantly updating changes in regulations, and if the standard from a country is not incorporated, it is incorporated within days.
• SPECIALIZATION IN PHASES OF BIM ROAD WORK LIFECYCLE. ISTRAM® BIM has specific tools for the phases of Conceptual Engineering, Basic Engineering, Detailed Engineering, Construction Control and Monitoring. These tools are fully automated and programmed to help the user, who won’t need to develop on their own or use external plugins or programs to design and execute 3D civil engineering projects.
• WIDEN AND IMPROVEMENT. ISTRAM® BIM has a specific module for carrying out widennd improvement projects. This is a distinctive feature compared to other software. It allows projects such as pavement utilization, cutting and demolition, widening of roadways, etc.
• VIRTUAL 3D.  Specific module for virtual reality. In this module, scenarios are generated with textures, orthophotos, objects from a user library that enrich and give realism to the project. In this module, you can create renderings and dynamic videos of your 3D civil engineering project.
• CONSTRUCTION CONTROL AND MONITORING. ISTRAM® BIM also has specific tools for construction control and monitoring with great calculation power from cross-section profiles. You can keep track of regular construction progress, providing reports, plans, and OpenBIM objects of the earthworks performed and pending, both inside and outside the theoretical section. You can also perform contrast measurements between surfaces by calculating prisms.
• PIPING. Great power in designing trenches and fills for pipeline networks or for any type of installation. There is also the possibility of easily designing culverts, walls, sewers, etc., without the need for external programming tasks.
• POINT CLOUD TREATMENT. Loading the most used formats in the market, filtering and managing points, measurements on scanner data, and recognition of road markings for automated deduction of road axes.
  The use of point cloud files is another distinctive feature of ISTRAM® BIM, as it is possible to work with hundreds of millions of points easily integrated into a single software, even on mid-range and low-end computers.
• MEASUREMENTS. In ISTRAM® BIM, the user has default, automatic measurements, so time is saved. Measurements are constantly updated in relation to any changes produced in the 3D civil design. At the same time, the user automatically sees the changes in the applied cross-sections without delay on the axes.
• DETAILED ENGINEERING. According to our users, ISTRAM® BIM is the software that can provide the highest level of 3D civil engineering detail to your Corridor projects (Roads, Railways, etc.), with many specific menus to parameterize the desired geometry for each element. These specific menus are constantly evolving and personalized.
• TECHNICAL SUPPORT. One of the most valued features by users. The technical service accompanies users throughout the life of their project, both in BIM design and during construction, solving doubts in handling, providing direct assistance and listening to their needs, which are programmed in a short period of time. New versions of ISTRAM® BIM are uploaded daily, which include improvements, new tools, user suggestions… User is directly in contact with ISTRAM® BIM developer (request, new tools, questions…).
• SPECIFIC TOOLS FOR ROAD SAFETY: With ISTRAM® BIM, you can use automations for the calculation and definition of safety barriers, as well as versatile road markings (horizontal signage, guardrails, and other special functions). You can also define vertical signage for the generation of plans and quantification lists, as well as generating OpenBIM models for the Road Safety discipline in 3D civil engineering.

  Finally, you can conduct 3D visibility studies for stopping, passing, and crossing visibility. All of this is available in a single integrated tool.

• COUNTRY-SPECIFIC CUSTOMIZATIONS: ISTRAM® BIM includes the standard and modeling particularities of dozens of countries to ensure user comfort in the design and execution of their BIM projects regardless of the country they are in. In this regard, adaptation includes, for example, plans, reports, and any other necessary type of adaptation according to the requirements of, for example, the Public Organization in question. There is also the possibility of implementing any adaptation required by the user within a matter of days.
• AUTOMATION FOR JUNCTIONS, CROSSINGS, AND ROUNDABOUTS: is another distinctive feature of ISTRAM® BIM, which provides 3D coordination between automated axis platforms for the rapid and supervised generation of connections such as crossroads, roundabouts, and junctions, saving time and tedious operations for the modeler.
• STA EQUATIONS: For axes that act totally or partially on existing previous axes with their own kilometers, ISTRAM® BIM considers various tools to define equivalence equations between the new axis and the existing one, such that the results will show these adaptations.
• SELECTED GROUND (CUT, FILL, AND ROCK)): ISTRAM® BIM provides a multitude of differentiated layers for the improvement of the road platform. Embankments and fills with extensive situational actions on external conditions. Breakdown of excavations and cuts with geotechnical levels adapted to the soil materials. Automatic measurements of all materials involved, both actual and partial material percentages in each of them.
• EMBANKMENT CLEARING: Excavations for stabilization of fills or embankments, stepped bonding and settling with multi-layer drainage and stabilization.
• COATINGS (CUTS AND FILLS): specific layers for the reinforcement of slopes, waterproofing or other uses aimed at protecting the configuration of earth movements.
• TRANSITION WEDGES (TECHNICAL BLOCKS): automated generation of transition materials between structures and earth movements, such as transition materials in structures or bridges and drainage or culverts.
• AUTOMATIC CALCULATIONS OF EACH ELEMENT OF THE AXIS (CORRIDOR): it is not necessary to generate axis surfaces to obtain earthworks measurements.
• NOT REQUIRED PROGRAMMING SKILLS FOR COMPLEX GEOMETRIES. In ISTRAM® BIM, each complex geometry is designed with a specific interface for each case, which eliminates the need for the user to create programmed tools for intended uses in the projects. The support department programs the tool in case of new needs, making it available overnight..
• EASY-TO-USE VECTORS AND QUICK RESULTS.ISTRAM® BIM provides simple vectors for users to obtain results in short times.
• DESIGN, CONTROL, AND MONITORING OF TUNNELS. ISTRAM® BIM has a specific module for monitoring the construction progress of tunnels, using scanners and differential advances by sections. Automatic control of excavation volumes and detection of conflicts or collisions between the actual excavation and the design.
• DESIGN OF BRIDGE, VIADUCT, AND TUNNEL STRUCTURES: Complete modules for designing complex shapes of viaducts and their parts, such as piers, decks, beams, abutments, and foundations in detail, fully adaptable to the 3D civil engineering road layout. Tunnel design with full control over the vaults, optimization of slopes, foundations, and clearance to reach the optimal form for cost minimization.
• OPENBIM. BIM methodology incorporated directly into all modules and constantly growing. Formation of BIM structure models from the beginning, management of information generated and published with BIM requirements demanded by clients. ISTRAM® BIM is the BIM tool with the best infrastructure BIM models produced to date, both in quality and structure of information. The models are generated and adapted to the majority of viewers in the market. BIM classification systems, management systems for sets of properties and information handled in the project. Control of model outputs and object identifiers maintained throughout the project. Handling of the latest infrastructure standards such as IFC 4.3 both in the generation and exploitation of own models generated by different disciplines as well as models generated by external disciplines and different model generation software.

Corridor projects

ISTRAM allows you to design anything from a simple road to the most complex highway, automatically solving relationships between axes, as is usual when designing a junction. The computing power, project control, and design philosophy based on surfaces and codes allows you to face any type of construction singularity. The ease and versatility with which tunnel sections can be defined stand out.

The application provides assistance to meet and check the usual design standards for a road layout, performing visibility analyses, speed diagrams, and vehicle trajectories.

The possibility of customizing the graphic outputs and the utilities and add-ons that are developed allow the engineer to have complete plans and reports.

One of the most effective utilities is defined by the calculation engine that allows obtaining all types of volumetric measurements, enabling the economic assessment of all the construction units of your project.

Roadway projects

Railway Projects
Easy definition of the route, turnouts, ballast definition, shape layer, sleeper and lane.

Drainage and distribution. Pipes
It supports all types of trenches, pipes, and fittings, having specific functions for this type of design.

Widen, improvement and renovation
Resolution of complex relations and parameters in roadway and railway projects.

Project control and monitoring
Constructive project management, measurement data is integrated in the design for obtaining reports.

Tunnel monitoring
Control and analysis of measurement and projected data. The detected deviations can be corrected.

Mass Haul diagram

Harbors

Virtual 3D

The presentation of a terrain, a linear construction project, or any type of civil infrastructure that modifies the landscape is much more understandable if it can be viewed in three dimensions, as it would be seen from a bird’s eye view. The ISTRAM VIRTUAL 3D module is responsible for allowing the virtual representation of any geometry generated in any of its modules. Specifically, the most powerful functionalities are designed to work with linear construction projects (roads, highways, railways, and pipelines). In this regard, functions have been developed that automate the generation of 3D geometry, offering the user, almost instantly, a scenario with their project already prepared to obtain results.

At this point, the most important novelty that the program provides is the possibility of continuously updating the scenario with new calculations, thus offering the user the possibility of evaluating the designed project in 3D.

Infrastructures conservation

A specific module for the conservation and maintenance of linear infrastructures allows optimal management of the inventoried data and corresponding maintenance tasks.

Other developments

Mass diagrams and earthworks compensation

It offers the necessary tools for the design and management of earth movements associated with the construction process of a linear work. The schematic graphics show the origin and destination of each operation and, together with the reports, allow the engineer to make a correct technical and economic evaluation.

Calculation and adjustment of box girder bridge

It allows defining the geometry of piles and beams, obtaining all kinds of data that will be used in construction processes.