Autodesk’s AutoCAD has long dominated the 2D road design market, thanks to years of development, updates, and industry competition. This dominance heavily influences the choices within China’s road design sector. Over time, a number of secondary development software tailored specifically to Chinese national standards and the design preferences of local engineers have emerged. Notable examples include the Hongye series, Weidi series, and EICAD series software. These localized tools have significantly simplified and streamlined highway design workflows.
For instance, Weidi CAD design software has evolved over many years into a comprehensive suite covering various aspects of highway design, including:
- Weidi Engineering 3D Geological CAD System
- Weidi Road Traffic Auxiliary Design System
- Weidi Retaining Wall Comprehensive Design System
- Weidi Culvert Design System
- Weidi Engineering Earthwork Allocation System
- Weidi Traffic and Safety Design System
This software suite aligns well with domestic 2D construction drawing review standards and can generate construction basis design drawings that meet the majority of current industry requirements.
The shift from traditional CAD to more advanced BIM-based 3D design platforms among designers is still in its early stages. Currently, there are no fully developed localized secondary development software systems, like Weidi, that comprehensively support the entire road design industry within BIM environments. This creates a transitional gap in China’s transportation design sector.
One major challenge is the lack of domestic developers who create BIM software tailored to local standards and user habits. This results in practical difficulties when applying BIM technology in design projects. For example, BIM’s auxiliary analysis capabilities remain underdeveloped and cannot support “multiple uses within a single model.”
Specifically, current BIM software lacks essential verification and calculation tools commonly used in roadbed and pavement engineering, such as:
- Roadbed verification
- Slope stability analysis
- Pavement structure calculations
- Retaining wall verification
- Drainage capacity checks
Similarly, bridge and culvert engineering require upper and lower structure verifications that BIM software does not yet fully accommodate. Tunnel engineering also demands specialized functions, like tunnel body and portal stress analysis, which are absent in existing BIM platforms.
As a result, designers often rely on auxiliary software outside the BIM model to perform these analyses, repeatedly building separate models. This workflow significantly reduces efficiency.
In many cases, BIM technology is currently used more as a visualization tool to address complex design challenges rather than as a fundamental analysis and design platform. Foreign BIM software solutions have yet to be fully optimized for China’s market, and professional secondary development BIM tools that can independently handle highway design remain scarce.
There is considerable potential for the localization of BIM technology and comprehensive project workflow coverage in China’s road design industry, representing a promising area for future development.
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