AI for civil engineering
Ultramarine Work reads the plans, specs, boring logs and bid packages in your project folder and hands back calculation packages, reports, marked-up submittals and cost workbooks for your review.
Alternatives-memo-lift-station.docxExampleTechnical Memorandum: Sanitary Sewer Alternatives for the Larkspur Subdivision
2. Alternatives considered
Alternative 1 extends an 8-inch gravity main 2,350 feet along Orchard Road to existing manhole MH-14, at depths of 14 to 19 feet. Alternative 2 is a duplex submersible lift station at the low corner of the site, with 1,100 feet of 4-inch force main to MH-9. Both serve all 46 lots at a peak flow of 47 gpm.
4. Life-cycle cost comparison
Over 30 years at a 3.0% real discount rate, the gravity extension has a present worth of $1.42 million, nearly all of it capital. The lift station costs $0.78 million to build, but power, pump rebuilds and a control panel replacement in year 15 bring its present worth to $1.31 million. The two differ by about 8%, so non-cost factors decide the recommendation.
CheckedCheck that the gravity capital cost carries trench shoring for the 19-foot cuts near MH-14.
How it works
- 1
Open the project folder
Drop in the PDF plan set, the conformed spec book with addenda, boring logs, hydraulic model output, the agency comment letters and the files from past projects, exported from wherever they live now.
- 2
Ask for the deliverable
Name the calc package, geotech report, submittal markup or bid tab you want. It reads the folder first, cites the sheet, spec section or log page behind each finding, and flags what it could not reconcile instead of guessing.
- 3
Run your check
Each number points back to the file it came from, so your review becomes a back-check rather than a rebuild. Confirm every clause against the code edition you adopted, then decide what goes out under your seal.
Ask it for
“Draft the gravity calc package for the 4-story office, with load takedowns per ASCE 7-22 and beam and column checks to ACI 318-19.”
Office-gravity-calcs.xlsx“Compare a new lift station against extending the gravity sewer for the 12-acre subdivision and write the alternatives memo with life-cycle costs.”
Alternatives-memo-lift-station.docx“Turn the six boring logs and lab index tests into a geotechnical report covering bearing pressures, subgrade modulus and pavement sections for the clinic.”
Geotech-report-Parkside-Clinic.docx“Write Section 03 30 00 cast-in-place concrete from our master spec, 4,500 psi at 28 days, with ACI 301 references and submittals matched to Division 03.”
Spec-033000-cast-in-place.docx“Take off grading and utility quantities from sheets C-401 to C-408 and price the engineer’s estimate with escalation and a 12% contingency.”
Opinion-of-probable-cost.xlsx“Review the structural steel submittal against spec 05 12 00 and the drawings, and mark each deviation, missing cert and conflicting dimension.”
Steel-shop-drawing-markup.pdf
Inside the Civil & Building Engineering mode
Engineering calculations and design basis
Every calc package states its code edition, load criteria, units and assumptions on the page, so your checker can follow each figure to its source.
Engineering study report
It drafts alternatives analyses, drainage reports and traffic studies from your models and field data, and sets out findings, cost opinion and recommendation.
Construction specifications
Spec sections follow three-part MasterFormat and match the drawings, with ASTM and ACI references and submittal requirements carried through Part 1.
Construction cost estimating
Takeoffs by CSI division feed opinion-of-probable-cost workbooks that carry a basis of estimate, escalation and contingency matched to design maturity.
Design review and QA/QC
Before an SD, DD or CD set goes out, it cross-checks the disciplines against each other and lists spec gaps, code issues and open items, each by sheet.
Construction administration
Submittal reviews, RFI responses and comment responses cite the governing spec section and drawing, and a register tracks every disposition.
Change order pricing
To price a change order, it rebuilds the cost from labor hours, material quotes and allowed markups, and spells out the time impact and notice deadlines.
Bid tabulation and leveling
Bid tabs level each sub quote against the scope sheet and call out exclusions, price gaps and unequal scope before you award.
Subsurface investigation report
Borings, lab data and CPT files become geotechnical and environmental reports, and it traces every design parameter back to its log or test.
Operations and maintenance manual
O&M manuals for pump stations, treatment plants and building systems include ANSI Z535.6 safety messages, maintenance schedules and parts lists.
Proposals and RFP responses
From your past project sheets, it drafts SF330s and RFP responses and checks them line by line against the solicitation’s instructions and page limits.
Project schedule
It builds schedules with a WBS, logic-linked durations, critical path and buffers, and rebaselines them when field progress slips.
Project budget and cost forecast
Monthly cost reports tie budget, commitments and actuals together, and the EAC and fee burn are ready to take to the principal.
- Office skills
- Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF
- Tools
- Read, edit and write files, Search files, Run code, Search and read the web, View images
- Connectors
- SharePoint, Google Drive, Gmail, and additional custom connectors
- House style
- Your fonts, layouts and rules, on every file
Who it’s for
Civil, structural, geotechnical, transportation, water resources, site, MEP and fire protection engineers in consulting firms and public agencies, from project engineers through engineers of record, project managers and principals.
Questions
Can it do our engineering calculations?
Yes, it builds and checks calculation packages, and you verify every line before the package is issued. Each package states the adopted code edition, load criteria, inputs, assumptions and units, and the workbooks hold live formulas you can audit. It notes anything it cannot reconcile instead of forcing a number. Chat models working from memory misread tabulated values and drop terms in long equations, so here the arithmetic runs as code over your files.
Will it cite building codes correctly?
No, not without you opening the standard. It names the edition and section behind every code statement it makes, so a reviewer can go straight to the clause and confirm it. The failure modes practitioners document are clause numbers that do not exist, misquotes, exceptions that change the meaning, superseded editions and the wrong jurisdiction. Put the code editions you adopt in the folder. It reads a web page only with your permission.
Who is liable if it contributes to a design error?
The engineer is, because the engineer signs and seals the work and decides what goes out. NCSEA’s town hall treats an error it contributes to like an intern’s error, and NSPE’s Board of Ethical Review requires at least the scrutiny you would give a person’s work. Reviewing after the fact without involvement does not satisfy responsible charge, so outline the criteria and be able to explain every number you seal.
Can it check submittals without missing things?
It does miss things, which is why its markup is a screened first pass and the engineer of record completes the review. Requirement by requirement, it checks the submittal against the conformed spec book and the drawings, and each mark gives the spec paragraph or drawing sheet that triggered it. Scanned sheets and vectored CAD text are usually where the gaps come from.
Is our client data confidential?
Ultramarine Work changes files only in the project’s folder. When a request needs it, it can read files elsewhere on your computer, never passwords, keys or app data, and you can turn that off in settings. The model runs on Paper Instruments’ servers, so the content it works on is sent there to be processed. Paper Instruments is SOC 2 Type II, and our security and compliance details are on our compliance page.