How the Miami GP will keep track of its F1 building blocks

One of the challenges of the new Miami International Autodrome is that it’s built around a bustling football stadium, tennis courts and a concert venue that requires the facility’s outlying areas to change shape for each event it stages.

This meant that Apex Circuit Design, who oversaw the project from masterplanning to delivery, had to come up with a system to keep track of all 2,900 Geobrugg concrete barriers, debris fencing and kerbs – in all over 7000 assets – that needed to be installed. Then, after the Miami Grand Prix has taken place, it all has to be removed to allow for the stadium’s next event to take place, with the assistance of software development firm Ofcdesk. 

The solution was ApexBUILD, which is a ‘digital twin’ and asset management tool of the entire racetrack’s layout, and is the responsibility of Kate Kishel for Apex to develop.

Each ApexBUILD asset tag carries an individual QR code (a small piece of vinyl with a 5mm adhesive that is also used by NASA) that she has been adhering to all the pieces after they’ve been put in place to form the barriers of the track, which she then scans with a mobile app to update site data in real time. 

“A digital twin is a visual replication of a real-life entity – in this case the assets of a construction site,” said Kishel. “But you could have a digital twin to model any system or entity. 

“One of the challenges of structures on a temporary racetrack is all of these giant concrete barriers with wire fences on top. They are like very heavy, 13-feet long Lego bricks! They all need to be linked together in a perfect configuration to complete the track. 

“These assets are challenging to manage because of their number and size – so imagine install plans aren’t followed as designed, you’d need additional specialized labour and equipment to fix it and get back on track, and that could delay your schedule and incur additional cost.” 

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Miami track overview