Case Study: MWH Global achieves rapid alignment planning—producing dozens of credible expressway options in two days with Trimble Quantm

Trimble Alignment Planning: MWH Global Speeds Alignment Planning Investigation of New Zealand Expressway

MWH Global, a 8,000‑person engineering firm, was engaged by the New Zealand Transport Agency to investigate the economic, social and environmental viability of a 20‑mile (32 km) greenfield expressway between Otaki and Levin. The corridor had complex constraints—avoidance of Levin, culturally protected sites, flood‑prone areas and geotechnical limits—which made traditional, iterative alignment planning time‑consuming and costly.

MWH adopted the Trimble Quantm Alignment Planning System, trained staff, and used the ACRE constraint approach to generate dozens of credible 3D alignments in two days (vs. the typical 4–6 weeks), with 20 options presented that met project constraints and supported public consultation; outputs exported directly to design/CAD/GIS tools. The work delivered faster, more defensible corridor choices and strong ROI for MWH and its client, although the Otaki–Levin scheme was later deemed economically non‑viable and NZTA shifted to staged upgrades of the existing highway.

MWH Global

Marten Oppenhuis

Chief Transportation Engineer