I thougt I would share a few models that I have been working on recently.
All are in production or have been produced.
Heat exchanger
I love the pipework installation image. Did you create all the valves, hand-wheels, etc. yourself? They look good.
Thank you.
The pump units were provided by the supplier and I had some tidying to do on import.
The valves are crudely modelled by myself but all extents are correct. I tend to model as required for production, so valve internals are often omitted.
I will follow up with some of the heritage steam boiler work I am involved with, there tends to be a greater level of detail involved with this side of things.
A couple of screenshots showing use of cloud data in my workflow.
I use a combinations of Trimble Scan Essentials and Recap Pro when working on projects in SketchUp. I also use Plant 3D when needed (but tend to aim for SketchUp where possible as any of my proposals are produced using SU and I like to try avoid lots of exporting and cross software working if I can!
Wow! Impressive @aroberts! Glad you found Scan Essentials useful in this project!
Most useful @kyle_de , thank you!
Has been a couple of months since I posted any more work but the shop has been busy!
Here is an 18m^3 stainless steel hot water tank. Braced, Insulated and clad then sat atop a box section support frame. Water softener bottles and ancillary items sit underneath and all will supply large 6 ton steam boiler when on site. The hot water tank is suitable to supply three boilers where the additional two are to follow in future phases.
The access platform is modular so can be easily transported then re-assembled on site. Ladders to connect 1st platform with tank top but couldn’t fit it in on the pre-assembly, it was clashing with the crane.
Model and realisation (Still WIP)
Still going on the same large project currently. The master model is beginning to get cumbersome. Im working from a number of isolated models now and updating component sets as I go.
This is an amazing example of the use of SU in engineering/ construction. This is where my interest lie. Im too from the UK.
Did you produce a full set of construction documents also? Do you have any other resources i can have a look at?
Thanks for the positive comments! I did produce full manufacturing and install drawings for this project.
Regarding other resources, not so much. I have had success with dynamic components and report generation + VBA for BOMs. Also been using Scan Essentials since 2020 with a more recent example of a project here
Wow, this is incredible! This is exactly the kind of work I aspire to do.
What kind of company do you work for? Using SketchUp (SU) for structural steel detailing is definitely unconventional, but this is a fantastic example of how versatile and powerful it can be. Was the steel specified by a structural engineer, and you handled all the detailing?
I’m a project engineer for a construction company specializing in water industry schemes, handling all types of projects. While my role doesn’t officially include design work, for low- to medium-complexity schemes, I often end up doing all the designs myself. I also work with a fabricator who supplies steelwork and does everything in SketchUp. He swears by the workflow of SU > AutoCAD for detailing, and he’s the one who introduced me to SU.
As I think about my career path, I’m weighing my options between becoming a project manager or doing something closer to what you’ve shown here. I’ve been a project engineer for six years, but the sheer amount of paperwork required for any scheme is overwhelming and is really killing my enthusiasm. I love delivering projects, handling the pressure, and solving problems on-site, but the administrative side of things feels excessive. It’s no wonder we’re struggling to attract people into this industry—issues like this play a big role and i feel like the bosses just add in paperwork for the sake of it.
Here is a link to a presentation 3d model of a scan and pipework designs. The scan was done off my iphone 15 done into two scans and spliced together. I then designed the new pipework run and used this to present to the client for approval.
This was 1 of 2 mezzanines installed on same site, each approx. 550m^2.
SE was involved for specification and we were contracted to detail, fabricate and install. The SU and SE workflow was used throughout the build for coordination. Detailing was carried out in Tekla for this contract. Any clashing etc was identified in SU and sunken baseplate detail was also coordinated through SU including levels and positions. Because groundworks were subcontracted we had trouble with levels and due to the size of the baseplates, packing was managed before siting the columns. I used scan essentials to detail all packing requirements and created a GA with height take off at each grid ref. It all worked well.
Using scanning workflow throughout for this one ensured that we were virtually snag free during the install. I scanned site three times during the overall build to ensure other contractors work could be coordinated carefully so that when our guys arrived, everything was where it was supposed to be. Bearing in mind that the sites previous use meant there was a great deal of process services still in situ and this was all stripped out during the detailed design stage of the project.
This is brilliant! Great job
Thanks for sharing the finished product too! How did the install go?
