An approach for cross-data querying and spatial reasoning of tunnel alignments

In mechanized tunneling projects, finding a low-risk and cost-effective alignment is an important task. Several alignment variants are usually created and each one is intensely scrutinized. Variants often have individual advantages and disadvantages and can lead to different constructive designs of a tunnel. In order to find the best alignment possible the variants have to be analyzed and evaluated based on requirements and evaluation criteria, such as safety, cost, built environment and operational requirements. To perform this evaluation and to enable comprehensive decision making, a holistic planning environment is examined that includes documents and models of different domains. In general, these domain specific data differ schematically and semantically, which consequently makes it challenging to combine and compare such diverse data. For this purpose, information from different sources must be linked and evaluated in a structured way. In particular, spatial relationships have to be investigated. Therefore, in this paper, ontology databases are utilized to merge BIM and GIS at data level to create an integrated model of the entire tunneling project. Relevant information for decision-making can then be derived, such as the location of private and public buildings that are in a certain vicinity of the planned alignment. On the one hand, the implementation of queries is a popular and frequently used approach to check for semantic properties. On the other hand, using a query language to derive information from geometric data can be challenging, due to the necessity of processing geometric data prior to and during query execution. Additionally, geometric definitions can differ in the considered coordinate reference system, the dimension or the structure. To handle geometry information by employing query languages, representations are methodically transformed to well-known text literals. A simplified and uniform geometric representation can be utilized for spatial reasoning, for example by adopting GeoSPARQL methods.

Automated summary

In mechanized tunneling projects, finding a low-risk and cost-effective alignment is crucial. Various alignment variants are created and scrutinized, and they can lead to different tunnel designs. To make the best alignment choice, analysis and evaluation based on requirements and criteria, including safety, cost, built environment, and operational requirements, are needed. This paper explores the use of ontology databases to merge BIM and GIS data, creating an integrated model of the tunneling project. The derived information can aid decision-making, such as identifying nearby private and public buildings. Query implementation and processing geometric data pose challenges, but with appropriate methods, spatial reasoning and the extraction of relevant information can be achieved.