At SPAR 2013 I had the opportunity to hear a very forward looking presentation by Ron Singh, Chief of Surveys/Geometronics Manager at the Oregon Department of Transportation.  It was even more impressive because Ron’s background is surveying.  His primary objective is speeding up the project development process.

Ron first looked at the project development process that has been used in the transportaion over the past 25 years.  It starts off with a complete survey of the project terrain to create a basemap – existing as-builts are rarely consulted.  Design of the new project is then conducted based on the basemap produced by the surveyors.  The result is paper drawings which are used by construction contractors to build the project.  After construction is complete construction as-builts are submitted, but they are almost an afterthought.  They are often as-designed rather than as-constructed, and most importantly they are not “sealed”, meaning nobody signs off on them putting their professional reputation behind their accuracy and reliability.  Practically what this means is that in the transporation industry, as-builts are treated as unreliable information.

What Ron Singh is proposing is to stand this process on its head by making the post-construction survey the critical source of reliable asset information in the form of a 3D intelligent model. 

Then when a new project is initiated 80-90% of the necessary information is already available in the as-built database making a complete resurvey unnecessary.  All that is required before design can begin is minimal due diligence to validate the as-builts. 

It also implies that there is a reliable asset database that is maintained thoughout the operations and maintenance phase of the lifecycle.