Navigating the Potholes of

GIS & CADD Integration

at Virginia DOTNovember 2013

Bryan Kelley

RNS/GIS Program Manager

Information Technology Division

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Agenda

1 Introduction to Virginia DOT

2 CADD File Management

3 Road Inventory Management

4 Field Data Collection

5 Integration Efforts

6 Lessons Learned

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Intro to Virginia DOT

• The agency maintains a ~58,000-mile network of highways and bridges, 4 underwater crossings, 2 mountain tunnels, 3 ferries, and ~20,800 bridges.

• In addition, Virginia has ~10,500 miles of city & town roads, ~1,800 miles of county roads, ~50 miles of toll roads, and ~400 miles of Federal roads.

• VDOT has nine districts. In the districts, there are 42 residencies and more than 200 local offices. VDOT's headquarters is in Richmond.

• VDOT manages the core roadway inventory data across multiple business units: Traffic Engineering, Maintenance, Transportation Planning, Local Assistance, etc.

• The Commonwealth of Virginia’s 39 cities are independent of the 95 counties.

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CADD File Management

• Falcon & CADconform

• CADD files are managed in Falcon, which is an integrated desktop and

web-based application that enables users (internal & external) access

to files.

• The Falcon applications provide search, revision control, document

notes, file check-in/check-out, and archive tools.

• CADconform Server is used by VDOT as a quality control tool to

ensure that CADD file submittals conform to design policies and

standards. CADconform checks for level, text height & width, text

font, line style, and line weight standards (i.e., spellchecker for

DGN files).

• The Falcon (tsaADVET ) applications and CADconform (Altiva) operate

on top of MicroStation and are integrated with MicroStation from the

user's perspective.

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CADD File Management

MicroStation

CADconform Falcon

Other…

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Roadway Inventory Management

• Roadway Inventory Management System (RIMS)

• Roadway modifications tracked as Inventory Change Requests

(ICR)

• Manages & maintains core road inventory data as reported thru biz

process

• Data managed as ‘events’ along linear referencing system (LRS)

• Available data entry categories

• Responsibility: state, county, city, town, federal, etc

• Travelway: # thru lanes, pavement width, shoulder and median type &

width

• Sidewalk & bike/ped facilities: side of road, description

• Pavement surface & base type: type categories, description

• Right of Way: width from CL, variability, description

• Other: Scenic byway, Highway name, Toll facility, Functional class, NHS,

etc.

• Associated reference files can include: Plats, construction plans, other

docs

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Roadway Inventory Management

Web-based applications

enable field staff to enter

inventory data. Automated

workflows notify central office staff for QA of

data.

Application indicates

conflicts or gaps in inventory data based on defined business rules. Authorized staff can update the data to correct

issue.

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Field Data Collection

• Data collected via contracted van-driven process

• On a typical annual basis: interstates, primaries, 20% of

secondaries

• Typical data: pavement condition, pavement ratings, driven

imagery, etc.

• Pavement data feeds models for maintenance program

• One-time collection data efforts have included…

• Curves, grades, etc.

• Guardrail, sidewalks, etc.

• # of lanes, turn lanes, etc.

• Data available as GIS files, process under

development way to synch it with and

update road inventory data. All data

collected using linear referencing system.

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Enterprise Data on the LRS

• Roadway Inventory ManagementManages & maintains core road inventory data

• CrashManages, consumes, locates, and feeds crash data via TREDS

• TrafficIdentifies the location of traffic links along the LRS

• Speed ZoneManages speed zone data along the LRS

• Railroad CrossingManages location and attributes of crossings

• Structure and BridgeManages location of bridges with PONTIS

• Pavement ManagementSynchronizes pavement condition data with PMS

• Highway Performance MonitoringProvides data editing and HPMS reporting functionality

RNS Program data feeds

Virginia 511, VA Traffic, & DMV's

Automated Routing System.

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Data Visualization: Inventory & Field

All RNS data can be

visualized via desktop GIS

applications , or enterprise

web map. Shown are

crashes and speed zones in

Integrator 2.

Integrator2 ‘integrated’ with iVision via right-click action. Brings up driven imagery and associated data.

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Integration Efforts: Past

• In 2006, VDOT contracted to build a GIS-CADD integration leveraging ESRI’s

ArcIMS, ArcSDE, FME, and Falcon (CADD DMS).

• The objective was to GIS-enable CADD drawings so that they could be

automatically overlaid on the GIS data.

• The scope of the involved converting the CADD file from native coordinate

system to a custom geographic projection, and displaying the ‘levels’ of the

DGN file with the ‘layers’ of the GIS data.

• Although technically successful, discoveries were made...

• CADD data followed more than one standard

• Complexity of coordinate conversion

• Speed of conversion and overlay process

• Culminated to workflow not being deployed

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Integration Efforts: Present

• In 2011, VDOT contracted to build a prototype application that had the ability to

upload, scale, & rotate an image based on user-defined control points.

• This ‘widget’ was built using ESRI ArcGIS Server and Silverlight API, and is a

candidate widget to be included in VDOT’s enterprise mapping application

(Integrator 2).

• In addition, VDOT is evaluating the ability to locate CADD file availability in

GIS for a given section of road to provide a visual indication that a file is

available to view and an image / use the widget to place the image on the map.

• Some outstanding questions remain…

• Updating CADD file availability in GIS

• Persisting CADD file overlays

• Speed of integration effort

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Integration Efforts: Work in Progress

RIMS

HPMSCrash

Others

RNS

Int2

GIS

iVision

Falcon

FalconUser Defined

System integration is an ‘IT’ task. However, the more important task is the

business processes that make that integration necessary and possible.

Early attempts at CAD/GIS integration were technically

successful, but from a practical perspective failed. Newer tech,

data standards, and a simplified approach may help.

A GIS web-based tool has been prototyped for

rubber-sheeting an image over

GIS data.

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Lessons Learned: The Pain Points

Considerations to make when devising a GIS / CAD / As-Built solution• “IT” takes time

• Set expectations accordingly and publicize measures of success

• Business Owner Champions• Find multiple business owners who will champion and help fund your effort

• User Experience• Engage end-users early & often; keep it practical, reliable, & usable

• Data Standards• Establishing, maintaining, and following data standards is paramount

• It’s all about the data• Visualizing & analyzing data with current technology reveals the gremlins

• There will be discoveries of data issues requiring data clean-up

• Educating users on ‘how to use’ and ‘how not to use’ data is key

• Establishing & maintaining a strategic vision is critical to success

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Thank you for this opportunity.

For questions or further information, please contact…

Bryan Kelley

RNS/GIS Program Manager

Information Technology Division

bryan.kelley@vdot.virginia.gov