Digital Twin of Concrete Construction Processes for an Office Building
During the building’s construction in Barcelona, the team digitized construction processes using BIM, sensors, data processing, simulations and performance indicators to provide valuable insights for project management.


Six Digital Twin Applications
To digital twinning the building construction, a total of six twin applications were developed, each with different data capture methods. Dedicated information pipelines were defined to establish a seamless data journey and an active connection between the virtual and real site. Specifically, the applications included: i) Slabs laser-scanning for checking deflection and As-built vs As-Design, ii) Tracking of the crane load spatial position, iii) Measuring of longitudinal strains during slabs post-tensioning, iv) Concrete temperature monitoring for maturity index , v) Formwork accelerations during vibration of columns, vi) Construction progress monitoring through IoT and a mobile app.
Resulting Digital Twin
All related information layers — including IFC models, IoT data, data processing, and performance indicators — were seamlessly integrated into a web-based Digital Twin platform powered by a knowledge graph system. This enables Construction Managers to make informed decisions, address issues, verify quality, and enhance productivity.
The video demonstrates how Managers can compare planned versus actual task execution and analyze optimal concrete vibration times for columns. These times are estimated through recorded accelerations of the formwork during the vibration process.
Read more about the project:
Chacón, R., Posada, H., Ramonell, C., Jungmann, M., Hartmann, T., Khan, R., & Tomar, R. (2024). Digital twinning of building construction processes: Case study of a reinforced concrete cast-in structure. Journal of Building Engineering, 84, 108522
Posada, H., Chacón, R., & Ramonell, C. (2024). Job roles for digital twinning building construction processes. Introducing the digital twin manager position. International Journal of Construction Management, 1–17.
