what we do

Bringing projects to life

3D modeling and visualization are the future of our profession. These capabilities greatly enhance the design process. Using modeling, designs can be developed faster and more efficiently between design disciplines leading to less conflicts. This leads to minimized risks during construction. Visualizations are an excellent story telling tool and effective at public involvement meetings for illustrating complex engineering solutions to non-technical audiences. Through mixed reality, we can see how designs fit in the real world at a real scale. To enhance our visualization capabilities, Parametrix acquired CivilFX in 2020. CivilFX was founded in 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. They are dedicated to blending civil engineering and visual effects. 

US 550, NM 513 to NM 528 gif
US 550, NM 313 to NM 528
Bernalillo, New Mexico
Client: NMDOT

This highway passes through the central business district of Bernalillo and adjacent heavily commercialized areas of Sandoval County, Rio Rancho, and the Pueblo of Santa Ana, including a large casino and hotel. US 550 consisted of four travel lanes with a 16-foot wide continuous center turn lane for a majority of the project area. The combination of high traffic flows with unrestricted left-turn access resulted in extensive daily congestion and numerous crashes that made congestion worse. The primary objectives of the project are to increase capacity, improve safety, and provide improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists. Improvements upgraded the highway to 6 lanes with raised medians to control left turns, bicycle lanes, and continuous sidewalks. Left turn openings are provided at consolidated driveway locations. A continuous flow intersection (CFI) was designed for the US 550/NM 528 intersection, the first of its kind in New Mexico. To illustrate the complex traffic flow simply, Parametrix developed simulations of the CFIusing VISSIM traffic data and Autodesk Revit software. The visualizations were used in a public education video to help drivers understand this intersection type.