Research Article
Digital Twins and Road Construction Using Secondary
Raw Materials
Sebastjan Meˇ za ,
1
Alenka Mauko Pranji´ c ,
1
Rok Vezoˇ cnik ,
1
Igor Osmokrovi´ c ,
2
and Stanislav Lenart
1
1
Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG), Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia
2
BEXEL Consulting, Beograd 1000, Serbia
Correspondence should be addressed to Sebastjan Meˇ za; sebastjan.meza@zag.si
Received 19 August 2020; Revised 15 November 2020; Accepted 28 December 2020; Published 19 January 2021
Academic Editor: Salvatore Antonio Biancardo
Copyright©2021SebastjanMeˇ zaetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Secondary raw materials (SRMs) tend to be a valuable replacement for finite virgin materials especially since construction works
(i.e., building and civil engineering work such as road construction) require vast quantities of raw materials. Using SRM
originating from recycling a broad range of inorganic waste materials (e.g., mining waste, different industrial wastes, construction,
and demolition waste) has been recognized as a promising, generally more cost-efficient, and environmentally friendly alternative
to the exploitation of natural resources. Despite the benefits of using SRM, several challenges need to be addressed before using
SRM even more. One of them is the long-term durability and little-known response of construction works built using such
alternative materials. In this paper, we present the activities to establish a fully functioning digital twin (DT) of a road constructed
using SRM. e first part of the paper is devoted to the theoretical justification of efforts and ways of establishing the monitoring
systems, followed by a DT case study where an integrated data environment synthesizing a Building Information Model and
monitored data is presented. Although the paper builds upon a small scale, the case study is methodologically designed to allow
parallels to be drawn with much larger construction projects.
1. Introduction
Recently, information technology (IT) support has been
gaining momentum, even in more conservative industries
such as the construction sector [1,2]. Facing ever higher
requests to build bigger, higher, faster and more efficiently
and with less environmental impact, Architectural, Engi-
neering and Construction (AEC) experts attempt to find
different means to tackle the challenges that arise with
automatization of construction works’ design, construction,
use, and reconstruction or demolition [3]. Correspondingly,
it is well-documented that the AEC industry is undergoing a
significant shift away from using 2D and 3D CAD models
toward a more enriched digital data structure in the form of
a Building Information Model (BIM) [4–6]. is is a con-
ceptual change, as the final product of design is becoming a
semantically defined product. Following this methodology,
it is possible to create a digital model of a facility in which
both geometric information and nongeometric properties of
all the elements are included. e need for managing in-
formation in digital environments along the building life-
cycle was first recognized by private investors, followed by
the European Union Public Procurement Directive [7],
encouraging the European Member States to require the use
of BIM for publicly funded construction and building
projects.
Standardization bodies, such as buildingSMART, have
made great efforts to mould the data structures into open-
source file formats, such as Industry Foundation Classes
(IFC) [8], since the standardization is crucial to achieving
interoperability among highly specialized tools that engi-
neers use for various analyses. Researchers go hand in hand
with software providers to meet the common goal to create a
sheer virtual representation and/or simulation of the
physical assets of the built environment [5,8]. Henceforth,
the long-standing tendency of IT research in AEC to come
up with a complete virtual replica of construction projects in
the design stage prior to the start of the construction works is
Hindawi
Journal of Advanced Transportation
Volume 2021, Article ID 8833058, 12 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8833058