Description:

As the industry continues to adopt prefabricated and precast electrical infrastructure to reduce field labor, improve construction quality, and accelerate schedules, BRCM would benefit from native support for precast duct bank systems.

Today, duct bank design in BRCM is primarily oriented toward cast-in-place construction. However, several manufacturers now provide engineered precast duct bank products that are widely used on large industrial, utility, data center, airport, and power generation projects.

One example is the Contech RED-E-DUCT system: Link is below but in a green color that won't show on my end unless I hover over it.

https://www.conteches.com/media/0s5bzpnv/red-product-20220915r1.pdf

Requested Functionality

Create a new Precast Duct Bank Catalog Type that allows designers to:

• Select manufacturer-specific precast duct bank products.

• Define modular precast sections (e.g., 1x2 through 5x5 conduit configurations).

• Support standard vendor conduit arrangements and dimensions.

• Automatically place duct banks using predefined precast modules rather than individual conduit spacings.

• Allow side-by-side and stacked module configurations.

• Support vendor-specific lengths and joint types.

• Generate accurate quantities for:

  • Precast sections

  • Couplings/joints

  • Stub-ups

  • Elbows

  • Transitions

• Differentiate precast versus cast-in-place duct bank in BOQs and reporting.

• Include catalog properties that can be mapped to installation specifications, procurement attributes, and construction work packages.

Business Value

• Better alignment with modern construction practices.

• Improved constructability reviews early in design.

• More accurate material takeoffs and procurement planning.

• Reduced manual modeling efforts.

• Enhanced support for data centers, utility infrastructure, power generation facilities, airports, and large industrial projects.

• Ability to separate precast and cast-in-place quantities for estimating and project controls.

Suggested Future Enhancements

• Vendor catalogs from manufacturers such as Contech RED-E-DUCT and similar precast suppliers.

• Automatic trench width validation based on selected precast modules.

• Weight and lifting calculations for constructability reviews.

• Direct BOQ reporting of precast assemblies.

• Integration with civil excavation and backfill quantity calculations.

Expected Outcome:

Designers should be able to model, quantify, and report precast duct bank systems with the same level of intelligence and automation currently available for traditional cast-in-place duct bank designs, enabling a more efficient and construction-focused workflow.

This enhancement would significantly improve BRCM's ability to support the growing adoption of prefabricated underground electrical infrastructure across the industry.