applications of gis in infrastructure project management · pdf fileapplications of gis in...

110

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2013 Sandip N Palve, 2013

APPLICATIONS OF GIS IN INFRASTRUCTUREPROJECT MANAGEMENT

Sandip N Palve1*

Developing countries face unique challenges with the design, construction and operations ofnew infrastructure. Nations with mature infrastructure have followed traditional technology modelsfor planning, design, construction and operation of facilities. With GIS technology, the developmentof new infrastructure will follow new technology models eliminating data redundancy,miscommunication, and costly conversion when moving through the planning, design,construction, and operation of infrastructure data. Specific site data requirements for the designand construction of infrastructure are developed for quality engineering design and to minimizeand accurately predict construction costs. GIS provides the central data system for the processof developing and constructing infrastructure gives the engineers a common means tocommunicate geospatial data, maintain current data, and allow iterative design/data collectionprocedures without exchanging data files of differing format, version, and content. Due to superiorspatial data handling capabilities, Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is increasinglybeing considered for implementation in many infrastructure projects.

1 University of Pune, India.

*Corresponding author:Sandip N Palve, [email protected]

ISSN 2319 – 6009 www.ijscer.comVol. 2, No. 4, November 2013

© 2013 IJSCER. All Rights Reserved

Int. J. Struct. & Civil Engg. Res. 2013

Research Paper

INTRODUCTIONThe GIS has the potential to merge a person’sprocess and field knowledge with a powerfulcomputer system that documents activity andbuilds a base for further streamlining. It canremove some of the tedious tasks of day-to-day operations, thereby easing the burden onthe worker, resulting in the potential forproductivity increases. At the same time, newdata documentation requirements are added

Keywords: GIS, Planning, Applications, Geospatial data, Infrastructure projects

that form the foundation for future GIS analyses.Wiley suggests that a GIS should beapproached as an evolutionary process, onethat yields GIS/information system tools andcapabilities in the interim and handle usersimmediate information needs as well as allowfor gradual organizational and workflowchanges as the system and applicationsevolve (Wiley, 1997). People involved in theInfrastructure projects believe that saving in

111


time and money can be achieved in actualconstruction rather than applying any structuralprocedure for project management such ascost estimation, planning, scheduling andcontrol. Further, success or failure depends onthe quality and timing of the informationavailable to the engineers from the database.

GIS will allow project managers and differentpeople involved in project with differentbackgrounds to get the information about theprogress of the project and support DecisionMaking. GIS will provide a common basis ofunderstanding and communication amongthese people. Many people think of GIS as apresentation tool. A GIS does in fact createhigh quality maps that communicateconsiderable amounts of information in anefficient and attention-getting manner. Campand Brown (1993) suggested the use ofdatabase management capabilities of GIS todevelop a 3-D view. 3-D visualization allowsthe project manager to view the constructionactivities during any stage of the project.

This paper covers the applications of GISat various stages of Infrastructure projects sothat it is possible to maintain the qualitythroughout the work.

WHY DO WE NEED GIS?GIS are needed in part because humanpopulations and consumption have reachedlevels such that many resources, including airand land, are placing substantial limits onhuman action. Human populations havedoubled in the last 50 years. Publicorganizations have adopted GIS because oflegislative mandates, and because GIS aid ingovernmental functions. For example,emergency service vehicles are regularly

dispatched and routed using GIS, Callers toE911 or other emergency response.Dispatchers are automatically identified bytelephone number, and their address recalled.The GIS software matches this address to thenearest fire, police, or ambulance station. Amap or route description is immediatelygenerated by the software, based oninformation, on location and the street network,and sent to the appropriate station with adispatch alarm.

Many businesses have adopted GISbecause they provide increased efficiency inthe delivery of goods and services. Retailbusinesses locate stores based on a numberof spatially-related factors. Where are thepotential customers? What is the spatialdistribution of competing businesses? Whereare potential new store locations? What istraffic flow near current stores, and how easyis it to park near and access these stores?Spatial analyses are used every day to answerthese questions. GIS are also used inhundreds of other business applications, suchas to route delivery vehicles, guide advertising,design buildings, plan construction, and sellreal estate. GIS provide spatial solutions tomany fields of civil engineering such astransportation, water resources, facilitiesmanagement, urban planning, constructionand E-business. GIS is an effective tool tovisualize the topographical conditions ofconstruction site. The modelling of constructionsite facilitates in construction controlling andplanning process.

WHY GIS IN PROJECTMANAGEMENT?The Construction Industry has a huge number

112


of tasks involved and cost involved in theseProjects is also very large. The ProjectManagers have a hard time monitoring theprojects between site and office. They have tocome on site to know the progress of work anddecide the sequence of work. They aregenerally confused on what to do next or whatwould be the changes faced by them in future.So the cost involved is large and it varies withrespect to the completion of the project, i.e.,time. The traditional approach for schedulingand progress control techniques such as barcharts and the critical path method are stillbeing used by the project managers forplanning which a serious disadvantage for thedecision is making purpose as the spatialaspects fail to provide the requiredinformation. There is pressure on the projectmanagers to shorten the delivery times andthus the current scheduling and progressreporting practices are in need of substantialimprovements in quality and efficiency.Integration of Geographical InformationSystem (GIS) and project management withvisualization was recognized as one of themost important tools for achieving this goal. Itshould be seen that integration of GIS andProject management might assist a plannerin a better perception of a project as well as inthe integration of other parties’ activities in theplanning process. Furthermore, in large scaleprojects, a visual representation of theschedule can be extended to monitoring notonly the construction process itself, but alsoall the auxiliary activities, including onsite plantand equipment. In addition, the practical andeducational benefits of being able to visualizeconstruction at a fine level of detail aresignificant. The application of geographic

information system in project management willbe new in the Indian Construction industry. GISwill allow construction managers and differentpeople involved in project with differentbackgrounds to get the information about theprogress of the project and support DecisionMaking. GIS will provide a common basis ofunderstanding and communication amongthese people. Many people think of GIS as apresentation tool. A GIS does in fact createhigh quality maps that communicateconsiderable amounts of information in anefficient and attention-getting manner. 3-Dvisualization allows the construction managerto view the construction activities during anystage of the construction process. GIS can beintegrated with project Management forconstruction progress visualization and anintegrated information system.

ROLE OF GIS IN PROJECTMANAGEMENTGIS is a computer system for capturing, storing,quarrying, analyzing, and displayingGeographic data. GIS is a special class ofinformation system, which can be divided intofour Components involving a computer system,GIS software, human expert, and the data. GISactivity can be grouped into spatial data input,attribute data management, data display, Dataexploration, data analysis, and GIS modelling.

GIS can handle both spatial and Attributedata, spatial data relate to the geometry of thefeatures, while attribute data describes thecharacteristics of the different features andstored in the tabular form. Each Row of thetable represents a feature while columnrepresents the characteristic of features. Theintersection of a column and a row show the

113


value of particular characteristics of a feature.

In the georelational data model, split datasystem is used to store spatial and Attributedata in separate files and linked together bythe feature Identification Descriptor (ID). Thesetwo sets of data files are synchronized so thatboth can be quarried, analyzed, and displayed.GIS role have proliferated in the constructionindustry in recent years. This fact is illustratedby the growing number of articles finding theirway into civil engineering and Constructionjournals and conference proceedings, inaddition to the handful of special Publicationsdevoted to GIS (Oloufa et al., 1994).

GIS can be used for:

• Progress monitoring system in construction

• 3-D data analysis

• Comparison of data

• Construction scheduling and progresscontrol with 3-D visualization

• Government Regulations

SITE LOCATIONThe new four-lane bridge on the Mula-MuthaRiver confluence at Yerawada, Pune, India, hasbeen named after Babasaheb Ambedkar andwill be an alternative to the Fitzgerald bridge,also known as Bund Garden bridge (Figure1). The old bridge is a heritage structure,constructed in 1867 in British era. The firstspandrel arch bridge in the city, connectingBund Garden to Chima garden. The need forthe new bridge at this location arises from thefact that the existing two lane masonry archbridge has over lived its design life span andcan become redundant for public use in thenear future.

Figure 1: The Bund Garden Bridge site near Yerawada, Pune, India

114


Site Data and Equipment

Toposheet collected from Survey of India fromwhich new location of Bund garden bridge onMula Mutha River marked manually fromexisting old bridge. This has been shown inmap of Pune city 47/F/14 (Figure 1). AutoCADdrawing of New Bridge (Figure 2),approximate estimate, Project schedule data,Manpower status during the project, Cash flowstatement, etc., and GRAM ++ GIS Softwareversion 2.0 used in this project.

Registration of Map and AutoCADDrawing in GIS Software

Geospatial location of new bund garden bridgeon the map of 1:50,000 scales registered inthe Map Edit module of GRAM++ GIS software(Figure 3). After registration of the map, twosegment layers have been drawn one is Mula-Mutha River and another is new bridge. Thisfile saves as a vector file in software so thatspatial location of the object, found out easily(Figure 4). This digitize layer of bridge over

Figure 2: AutoCAD Drawing

Figure 3: Registration of Map

115


the river helps in finding out the location ofobject and same points were transferred in theAutoCAD drawing, so as to marked accuratelyas like as ground coordinated points (Figure5).

Digitizing AutoCAD Drawing in GISFormat

The polygon, segment and point layers arecreated for activities. All activities in the projectmerged together into one activity so that; the

Figure 4: Digitization of Bridge and River

Figure 5: Registration of AutoCAD Drawing

116


Figure 6: Digitization of AutoCAD Ddrawing

activities which belong to each other but werelocated at different positions are joinedtogether as a one Feature Class (Figure 6).These files save as a vector file in the moduleof software which helps in creating a databasefor different activities of project in sequence.

Database Generation for FeatureClass, Activities

The attributes needed for each layer werecreated in a database (Figure 7). Once thedatabase generated it gives the informationabout total percentage of completed work,

Figure 7: Database created in mdb. File

117


Figure 9: Query on Selective Region in Red Colour

total manpower required during the activitiesand generate the cash flow required for project.This centrally located database enables theengineer for streamlining the operation ofproject in real time. The attribute for all activitiesfrom excavation to end of the deck slabgenerated in system. Figure 8 shows theattribute table of concrete footing.

PROGRESS OF WORKThe progress of work had shown in graphical

format. The amount of work done on the variousactivities could be seen in 3D view. The projectwas updated as progress information becameavailable. The various formats of reports canbe generated as per the user’s requirement.Query run on concrete footing when selectingthe volume of footing equal to be 216 m³ thenit appears to be red in color (Figure 9) and 3D view of concrete footing generated in vectorvisualize, module of GRAM++ GIS software(Figure 10).

Figure 8: Attribute Table for Concretefooting

118


Figure 10: 3D View of Concrete Footing

Subsequently the same procedure appliedfor other component of the project. Allcomponents of the project and its databasefinally merged together into the one commonlayer (ALL_ Layers) (Figure 11).

Project schedule (Figure 12) is a vital

ingredient in successful project management.Numerous individuals and parties are involvedin project, and they have to understand theirassignments. Proper scheduling is animportant procedure for project, as it supportsthe efforts to control cost and time. Good

Figure 11: ALL Layers Activities

119


Figure 12: Database for Project Schedule

scheduling can eliminate problems due tobottlenecks; facilitate the timely completion ofa project as soon as possible.

CASH FLOW STATEMENTCash flow statement is useful to plan financialoperations in an efficient manner. Plannedcash flow which is at beginning of the projectand actual cash flow during the project helpsto provide vital information aboutorganization’s cash inflows and outflows(Figure 13). The graph of cash inflows andoutflows (Figure 14) shows that, how anorganization’s financial position has changedduring the reporting period. It helps to controlthe cost of project over the period of time.

DESIGN OF 3D MODELLINGThe completed work and its 3D view (Figure15) created in vector visualize module ofGRAM++ GIS software. Project managershould be determining the stage in the designdevelopment process when a specific scopeof work should be modelled in 3D.Thistechnology provide significant benefits in

developing coordinated and constructibledesigns and construction sequences whichhelps in knowing the exact status of the project.The potential of these tools significantlyimprove design coordination and constructionexecution.

BENEFITS OF THE SYSTEMThis system will benefit project managers, siteengineers and clients in the following Manner.

Project Manager

Project manager evaluate the project to ensurethat it meets the desired standards. Duringproject execution, project manager continuallyreview performance. Depending on priorities,he knows how much progress has been made,how much money has been spent, and whatresults have been achieved. With well definedand integrating system of GIS software not onlyProgress of the work, costs, and quality, butwe evaluate project performance and thecompany’s business objectives. With the helpof this integrating system, the Project managercompares actual work and costs to the project

120


Figure 14: Graph of Cash Inflows And Outflows During The Project

Figure 13: Database Sheet for Cash Flow Statement

plan to determine whether the project is behindschedule or over budget, the amount of anybudget overruns, controlled.

Site Engineer

Site engineer understand the status of workwhich helps in good decisions in his day-to-day work. Proper Information system track theprogress of work and any changes can bemade within short period of time, before thingsget out of hand.

Quantities of materials required and the

actual construction work involved in

implementing a project carried out by

engineer. Monitoring of project’s cash flow

possible with updating day to day work in

database. Software manages the construction

processes so that the project is completed on

or before the agreed completion date which

ultimately saves the time value for money.

121


Client

3D modelling tools offer pre-defined objects thatfacilitate the development, routing, andconnection of bridge construction in 3D. Thepotential of these tools significantly improvedesign coordination and construction execution.This system can be applied to resolve complexdesign and construction challenges. 3Dtechnologies provide significant benefits indeveloping coordinated and constructibledesigns and construction sequences whichhelps in knowing the exact status of the project.These technologies help in improving the qualityin construction projects.

CONCLUSIONPlanning and managing the infrastructureprojects in the new era of globalization andeconomic liberalization would be a demandingtask calling for new skills and approach. Theinfrastructure projects of developing countries

Figure 15: 3 D View of Completed Project

must be improved as they are of criticalimportance to national socioeconomicdevelopment.

GIS makes a wealth of information, easilyavailable from a spatial interface. It also helpsto organize all relevant information, for projecttracking. When we initiate new projects, weare accountable for effective and efficientproject delivery. Large projects are oftencomplex, which require careful monitoring,coordination, and management. GIS useslocation as the cornerstone of datamanagement for organizing projectinformation.

Through the use of 3D modelling inGRAM++ GIS software, clients can experiencea more interactive way of seeing data,visualizing change over time and space toidentify patterns and trends, and disseminateknowledge to engineers, managers, and field-based personnel.

122


ACKNOWLEDGMENTThe author is thankful to the Professor. Dr.P.Venkatachalam, Head, CSRE Indian Instituteof Technology, Bombay, India for training andvaluable guidance of GRAM++ GIS Software.The author is grateful to the officers of MunicipalCouncil of Pune, for providing and permittedto collecting the site data. The author alsothanks for any suggestions that improved thequality of the paper.

REFERENCES1. Arnoldi E and Zampedr G (1997), “GIS

application in agriculture environmental

and land information system”,

Proceedings of First European

Conference for Information Technology

in Agriculture, Copenhagen, pp. 24-36.

2. Bansal V K (2008), “GIS based projects

information system for construction

management”, Asian Journal of Civil

Engineering, Vol. 7(2), pp. 115-124.

3. Bansal V K (2012), “Application areas of

GIS in Construction project management”,

International Journal of Construction

Management, Vol. 12(4), pp. 17-36.

4. Chang K (2007), Introduction to

Geographic Information Systems,

Fourth edition, McGraw-Hill, New York,

USA, p. 468.

5. Crosett M and Tarantola S (2001),“Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis: toolsfor GIS-based model implementation”,International Journal of GeographicalInformation Science, Vol. 15, pp. 415-437

6. Hawkes A (1992), “Total qualitymanagement of GIS data conversion”,Proceedings of URISA Annualconference, pp. 125-138.

7. Kolagotla V (2007), GIS and itsapplication to project management inconstruction industry, Downloaded at,http:// www.csre.iitb.an.in/

8. Pheng L S and Teo J A (2003),“Implementing Total Quality Managementin Construction Firms”, Journal ofManagement in Engineering, Vol.129(5), pp. 562-569.

9. Piquer N (1998), “A cost/benefit analysisfor the use of GIS within Dutch waterboards”, M.Sc. thesis. University ofNetherland. Accessed July 30, 2011, athttp://www.feweb.vu.nl/unigis/downloads/msc/Nico%20Piquer.pdf.

10. Verma R K, Kumari S and Tiwary R K(2011), “Application of Remote Sensingand GIS technique for efficient urbanplanning in India”, Accessed September13, 2011, at http://www.researchgate.net/publication/

applications of gis in infrastructure project management · pdf fileapplications of gis in...

Documents