Autodesk Inc. announced it has signed a series of agreements with long-time partner, ViaNova Systems AS, a provider of transportation design and planning software, to provide best-of-breed transportation solutions for road and railway design. These solutions will allow transportation agencies to create, manage and share secure road and rail design data with team members and organizations involved throughout the life of the transportation project, enabling them to make informed, cost-effective decisions that ultimately save time and expense.

Under the expanded relationship, Autodesk will offer ViaNova's Novapoint software and associated modules for road and highway design. The software is built on Autodesk Map 3D 2005, a powerful 2D and 3D precision mapping and GIS analysis tool to create, maintain, and produce maps; and to integrate data from various sources and formats, perform data analysis, and produce thematic maps. The software allows user to collect and incorporate highly precise GIS and design data, such as survey grade terrain model information, and import and export topographic data without losing accuracy or precision. As a first stage of the relationship, the software will be offered exclusively in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and will later be rolled out in other geographies.

In addition, Autodesk plans to work with ViaNova on the development of a complete design solution for the rail industry. Autodesk intends to migrate the existing Novapoint technology (Novapoint Road and Novapoint Rail) onto the Autodesk Civil 3D platform to offer not only key rail agencies but transportation agencies worldwide true 3D engineering model design capability with 2D simplicity. This provides richer information exchange, automated drafting features, and more time for design possibilities.

Autodesk's Civil 3D technology is the civil engineering tool that creates intelligent relationships between objects so design changes are dynamically updated. The enhanced 3D interaction gives the user more design flexibility by making it easy to run and visualize "what-if scenarios" and to correct errors on the fly. Customers can design in 2D, 3D or both.

Source: Autodesk, July 14, 2004