Brazilian FICO – FIOL project is a game changer for the cargo industry

Upon completion of the project, it will be possible to transport goods from the center of Brazil to the ports located in the North and on the East coast. This link to the Atlantic Ocean will provide better logistics solutions, lower costs, and represents a game changer for the cargo industry in Brazil, the 12th largest economy in the world and the largest in Latin America.

Due to the magnitude of the project, it was divided into segments. These segments are currently in different phases: while for some, only basic engineering studies have been conducted, others are already under construction. To successfully integrate the railway network, these various engineering studies need to be technically evaluated and homogenized, taking into account the current construction progress in some sections of the project.

Building Information Modeling for successful integration

To fulfil this need, Sysfer, a key engineering company in Brazil with more than 25 years of experience on the fields of railroad consulting and engineering, information technology, railroad asset management, and environment, will develop a holistic engineering analysis of those studies. In July 2022 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), DB Engineering & Consulting signed on as subconsultants to provide railway expertise in operations and digitalization.

Within the FICO – FIOL project, DB Engineering & Consulting has been contracted to provide support to Sysfer by developing BIM methodology implementation for data integration and a strategy for migrating previous technical studies to a BIM platform. DB Engineering & Consulting has also been tasked with performing operational simulations to develop an optimal operational model to meet the expected demands on the FICO-FIOL corridor. Already in 2020, the DB Engineering & Consulting’s management team for Latin America defined BIM as one strategic portfolio in line with governmental programs for digital transformation across the region. In 2020, a professional team was established to meet demand in the Latin American market and provide services to the global DB E.C.O. Group (DB Engineering & Consulting’s parent company) in other regions. Growing interest and direct requests for proposals, including for BIM services and operations planning, are confirming that this initial vision and strategy were correct.