Using AI to reduce risk for construction

Alice Technologies and Bouygues Travaux Publics, one of the largest companies in the civil works sector, have announced a new partnership that will see them collaborate on multiple complex projects across the world using the power of artificial intelligence (AI).

Bouygues Travaux Publics specialises in complex projects involving tunnels, engineering structures and road, port, and rail infrastructures. The company has worked on projects such as the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge, the Port of Miami Tunnel in the US and the Nîmes-Montpellier Rail Bypass in France.

Alice Technologies says that its construction simulation and optimisation platform helps general contractors to leverage the power of AI to plan, bid and build challenging, large-scale infrastructure and commercial projects more efficiently and with reduced risk.

During preconstruction, Bouygues Travaux Publics team members will use the tech for ‘optioneering’ – to explore the scenarios that make the most efficient use of project resources such as labour, equipment, and materials, and to test the impact of changes in key variables on project outcomes. A manager might use Alice Precon to determine how the addition of a second tunnel boring machine could affect the speed and cost of a major tunnel project.

The civil works company says that the use of AI to create and test options will enable them to submit the precise, well-tested bids it needs to win profitable contracts.

Regarding the execution phase, the company will use the technology to keep its projects on time and on budget. If circumstances change then the team can use the tech to quickly update project plans and recover from project delays.

“Alice is ideally suited to help us to win and deliver the big infrastructure projects that represent the core of our business,” said Bertrand Burtschell, Deputy CEO, Bouygues Travaux Publics.

“In the design and commercial phases, thanks to the Alice platform, we can use the power of AI to design optimal plans. In the production phase, ALICE will help us to reduce execution risk and ensure that we hit our schedule and budget targets. We see great potential in this partnership.”