IMPLEMENTATION OF THE “ASSET DESIGN AS CONSTRUCTED” (ADAC) STANDARD IN BUNDABERG
Dwayne Honor ([email protected]) Manager Design, Bundaberg Regional Council, Queensland, Australia
Matthew Caughley ([email protected]) Civil Designer, Bundaberg Regional Council, Queensland, Australia
Abstract
This paper focuses on the challenges that Bundaberg Regional Council faced with the overall management of “as constructed” asset information being received from external industry (donated assets) and internally constructed infrastructure from capital works programs. Existing processes for the creation and distribution of “as constructed” details were manually labour intensive, paper based and information was difficult to validate. There was no consistent standard as to how design plans were “marked up” and enforcement of such was not practical amongst internal work crews and external contractors. The traditional “as constructed” plans were not providing sufficient value to the planner, designer, constructor, owner or maintainer. Council has largely addressed this issue with the implementation of an industry standard ADAC XML file which also delivers a self- improving data transfer process into the future.
Take home message:
Ensure “as constructed” data is integrated into the Asset and Project Life Cycle;
Maintain a single point of truth for “as constructed” information that retains geometric accuracy; and
Ensure a multidisciplinary approach is taken during implementation to foster ownership of the process from stakeholders.
Introduction
Both government and private industry have long suffered inefficiency losses resulting from poor data interoperability through the project life cycle and inadequate “as constructed” records of an asset. This has led to significant cost increases in the planning, design and construction of new assets which often demands extensive non- destructive investigation and testing.
Bundaberg Regional Council (Council) embarked on a process to structurally reform the data interoperability problems by
improving the flow of engineering design information using the ADAC XML data format. Strong focus was given to passing design information through the asset lifecycle starting from survey, design, construction and into operations and maintenance.
“As Constructed” Challenges
Existing “as constructed” processes within Council were leading to the following core issues:
Poor quality information on asset locations within corporate Geographic Information Systems (GIS). At times this would lead to survey crews recapturing assets in the field to ensure critical information could be relied upon for infrastructure planning.
Data Duplication – No single point of truth with paper based “as constructed” information being re- digitized into databases. Inefficiencies included manual re-entry of data, duplication of business functions, and the continued reliance on paper- based information management systems.
Labour intensive validation of paper based “as constructed” information against field based audit and surveys;
Extensive back logs of “as constructed” plans awaiting entry to asset and GIS systems. This prevents immediate access to the records. For example, a typical twenty (20) lot residential subdivision could take up to 4 days of manual labour to recreate the assets into corporate databases.
Standardised Information and Formats
The introduction of computers has done little to create the paperless office. Crucial to rectifying this issue is the development of open source standards to improve electronic data interoperability.For the purpose of this paper, ‘Interoperability is defined as the ability to manage and communicate electronic product and project data between collaborating firms’ and within individual companies’ design, construction, maintenance, and business process systems’
U.S. Department of Commerce (2004).
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is now the accepted language for data communication over the internet. XML is about carrying information on the internet; it
(2012) describes it is a, ‘…simple flexible text format that can be used as the basis for creating new markup languages that can be used in document publishing and data exchange. XML is based on a series recommendations published by the working groups of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is therefore well suited (though not limited) to use in Web-based applications’. Such a format makes it easy for computers to generate data, read data, and ensure that the data structure is unambiguous and repeatable.
ADAC XML is an open source standard maintained by the IPWEA for sharing asset information for public infrastructure. It provided a data interoperability solution for
“as constructed” problems in Council by facilitating data transfer between different phases in the project life cycle, and throughout various software applications.
Existing “As Constructed” Process
Previous to the adoption of ADAC, Council maintained a paper-based “as constructed”process as follows:
1. The “For Construction” plans are issued and construction is initiated.
2. If changes are required in the field, a
“Design Change Request” Form is to be submitted and reviewed for approval by the project RPEQ1 prior to the change being accepted.
3. Once the project is completed, construction crews are expected to notify the Asset Management Department (Asset Services) via email submission of an Asset Checklist Form. This form contains basic information pertinent to the creation and capitalisation of the asset.
4. The “marked up” plans are forward to the Designer to finalise a set of approved “as constructed” plans is not a replacement for HTML which was
designed for displaying information on the internet. The Microsoft Developer Network
1 Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland
which are then uploaded to a corporate plans register.
5. Asset Services would manually extract “as constructed” information from these plans and upload the asset data to Council’s corporate GIS system.
A simplified process is provided in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1 – Simplified paper trail process for “as constructed” information
Due to data interoperability problems and paper based systems it was difficult for staff to efficiently validate “as constructed”
information against the intended design. The process was not transparent or easily repeated for like assets. Council’s “as constructed” data flow process presumed all information recorded was true and correct, this was also not found to be the case.
Case study – Validation of a constructed drainage asset
Through internal auditing, numerous paper- based “as constructed” drawings were found to be inaccurate. For example, Figure 2 (below) shows a problem drainage corridor (on the left) with a large overland flow path impacting private properties. A levee solution (on the right) was designed to provide relief from flooding during major storm events.
Figure 2 – A problem drainage corridor leads to inundation of properties (left), and the proposed design solution (right).
The levee project was completed and “as constructed” information was received according to Council process. Validation was undertaken using independently surveyed data as per Figure 3 (below). The “as constructed” details were submitted as red line “mark ups” clearly stating the height of the levee “as per design”. The cross section of survey data (presented in red) clearly shows the top of the levee more than 150 millimetres below the design level.
Figure 3 – “As constructed” (above) versus independent survey (below)
This reflects a number of issues including the lack of quality control throughout construction and failure of Council’s “as constructed”
process. To quantify impacts, the on-ground works were tested against pre constructed conditions using computer flood modelling (Figure 4). With great cost to construct, the reduced height of the levee provided virtually no difference in flood immunity for the affected properties.
Figure 4 – Comparison of the constructed levee (right) against pre construction conditions.
This example highlights the importance of:
Standards such as ADAC XML to efficiently validate “as constructed”
data against the original design in a transparent and repeatable manner;
and
Compliance and enforcement of systems and processes to ensure the intended level of service is provided to the community.
On completion of audit investigations, the construction error was rectified and modelling now shows the levee to be effective during the design flood event.
Restructure of Council’s “As Constructed” data flows
The ADAC data framework enables technology systems to consistently compare, validate, compile, disseminate and upload engineering design and “as constructed” data throughout the project life cycle.
To resolve issues raised by the above case study, Council developed a revised “as constructed” work flow based on the ADAC standard ensuring that asset information can be passed from engineering survey, design, construction and ultimately to operations and maintenance. It enables computer automated comparison of what has been constructed versus the approved design. In doing so the quality of the “as constructed” data has also been improved due to adherence to the ADAC XML schema definition, further described below.
Addressing Data Interoperability to maximise Data Reuse
ADAC is an XML Schema Definition (XSD).
The XSD specifies how to formally describe an XML document and can be used to compare and validate the data inside an XML file. The ADAC XSD could also be described as the “business rules” required to create a compliant ADAC XML file. The ADAC XSD contains several “nested” XSDs as per Figure 5 (below).
Figure 5 - ADAC XSD Layout
Previous to ADAC, there was an overwhelming need to address both the quality and format of asset data capture. The ADAC XSD provides Council with a rigid
Engineering, Asset Services, GIS, Engineering Design and Survey. It is framework for data validation and quality
assurance checks. It can also be universally read and created by the majority of engineering software applications.
At first glance, the concept of the ADAC XSD can be difficult for new users to understand.
A useful analogy is to consider the ADAC XSD in terms of a “directory tree” as you would find in Microsoft Windows Explorer.
Using this analogy, the ADAC XSD could be expanded to find the “nested” XSDs and the ADAC objects contained within each. As an example, in Figure 6 (below) the ADAC object “Waste Collection Point” would be found by expanding the “Open Space” ADAC XSD directory.
Figure 6 - ADAC XSD as a Directory Tree
Integration of ADAC data into the Project Lifecycle
Previous to the adoption of ADAC by Council, there was no transparent standard for maintaining consistent quality and geospatial integrity of “as constructed” data within the organisation. Significant data interoperability problems existed and manual data entry and digitisation of hard copy drawings was common place. The ADAC XML format has provided a solution to this problem.
ADAC provided Council a standard that would facilitate data interoperability regardless of what software package was being used throughout various stages of the project life cycle. Council’s implementation had a strong focus on passing XML information between life cycle stages as per the flow chart provided in Appendix A.
Council’s corporate technology solutions include the following:
12D Solutions “12d Model” and “12d Field” software (running Topcon Total Stations and RTK GPS) as the Engineering Design and Survey applications. Trimble Survey Controller software and S6 Total Station are also integrated.
Trimble Survey Controller and Trimble Business Centre for Engineering Construction and Trimble Machine Control systems on “M” Series Caterpillar Graders;
Assetic “MyData” as the Asset Management System; and
ESRI “ArcGIS” as the Geographic Information System.
With assistance from the IPWEAQ, Council engaged the services of Lion Systems to undertake ADAC XML implementation in the corporate Asset and GIS environments. This involved:
A mapping exercise (comparing existing asset registers with ADAC data fields); and
Development of scripts to ensure asset data in the XML files was attributed to the correct fields in the Asset Management System and ArcGIS ArcSDE databases. At the same time, Council worked closely with 12d Solutions to develop integrated tools and refine the process of creation, modification, schema validation, export and import of ADAC compliant XML files as part of the survey and design stages of a project.
Important to the overall success of this work was the multidisciplinary approach Council undertook with the implementation team including staff from Development
generally acknowledged by all staff involved that implementation of ADAC within Council
would be impossible without the collaborative teamwork and skill sets of each to solve common problems.
This work is now complete and provides flexibility in capture methods of “as constructed” data. For a typical “as constructed” survey the process within Council is as follows:
1. The Surveyor undertakes an “as constructed” field survey using their existing survey coding system.
Depending on the complexity of the project and with no additional effort, they are able to read, modify and write an ADAC XML file and send it to the Engineer/Designer for completion;
2. The Engineer/Designer will value add to the XML and include details that may be recorded “during” construction such as pavement depths, concrete depths and subsoil drains that a Surveyor would not have access to. The Engineer may source this additional information from a mix of quality system documentation, contract management records, or independent surveys;
3. For error checking, the Engineer/Designer is then able to validate the data in 12d against the ADAC XSD prior to writing a compliant ADAC XML file; and
4. The ADAC XML file is then electronically submitted to the Asset Services department who import the file and relevant information is automatically distributed to the GIS and Asset Management System where it can be accessed by all staff through web based mapping.
The ADAC framework ensures that every survey pick-up of “as constructed” data remains the single point of the truth in regard to data quality and geospatial integrity. No manipulation of data is required for interoperability between various software packages and allows for computer automation of previously manual tasks.
Early feedback from Council’s Asset Services staff report that a typical 20 lot residential subdivision can now be entered into the Asset Management and GIS systems in less than 1 hour; a major reduction from the previous manual entry estimate of 4 days.
Central Queensland ADAC Working Group – A Unified Approach to Planning Schemes
A planning scheme is a statutory plan prepared under state planning legislation that manages and guides the way land, buildings and structures can be used and developed within a Council area. Key parts of the proposed planning scheme include:
Strategic Framework;
Priority Infrastructure Plan;
Tables Of Assessment;
Zones;
Local Plans;
Overlays;
Development Codes;
Definitions;
Mapping; and
Planning Scheme Policies.
A growing number of Local Governments in Queensland have adopted ADAC into their new planning scheme policies for submission of “as constructed” information.
As a result, the Central Queensland (CQ) ADAC Working Group was formed and included representation from Bundaberg Regional Council, Rockhampton Regional Council, Gladstone Regional Council, Livingstone Shire Council, IPWEAQ and SSSI as per Figure 7 (below).
Figure 7 – Central Queensland ADAC Working Group
The intent of this group was group was to discuss the ADAC framework within each organisation focussing on external industry implementation. The outcome of these meetings was the production of the
“Guidelines for Creation and Submission of ADAC XML Files”. The purpose of the document is to provide practical guidelines consistent across Central Queensland for the creation of ADAC XML files.
Stakeholder Engagement & Capacity Building
It is generally accepted amongst all Council’s in the working group that local industry capacity for the creation and transfer of ADAC XML files is currently very low. As a result, a number of information sessions are being planned to educate and empower local industry and assist them in their implementations. These sessions will be facilitated by the IPWEAQ and include presentations from the surveying, engineering and construction industries.
Furthermore, individual software providers will also be able to assist their clients by providing independent training and tutorials on the ADAC XML work flows within their products.
Conclusion
Council was faced with significant challenges around “as constructed” data quality and the
process for validation was manually labour intensive and impossible to automate. The ADAC XML data standard has provided a reliable open source data format which can be integrated into the project life cycle. Data interoperability has been guaranteed and the schema can be upgraded to “future proof”
data integrity and avoid redundancy. Assets can now be clearly described in a consistent and repeatable format for the purpose of “as constructed” submissions.
The implementation of ADAC at Bundaberg required significant effort from a multi- disciplinary team of staff from the Assets, GIS, Development Engineering, Survey and Design sections. This proved essential to the success of the project and allowed for maximum system integration and ultimately, greater efficiency of data management.
References
Microsoft Developer Network, 2012, XML standards reference, viewed 15 August 2015, https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/ms256177(v=vs.110).aspx
U.S. Department of Commerce 2004, Cost analysis of inadequate interoperability in the U.S. capital facilities industry, viewed 15 August 2015,
http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build04/art022.htm l
IPWEA 2015, Guidelines for creation and submission of adac xml files (version 1.4), Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia, Brisbane.
Appendix A
Concept
ADAC XML SCHEMA – CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT CYCLE
Desi gn
ADAC XML
Life Cycle In tegratio n via Automated Conv ersi on &
Checking Too ls/Sof tware
Monitor & Rev iew Monitor & Rev iew
Imp lementatio n
Commis sion
(GIS, Ass et Reg isters, AM Sys tems)
Operations Mai ntenance
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Author Biography
Dwayne Honor has been working in local government for over 12 years and was educated at Central Queensland University (Rockhampton). He has degrees with Distinction in Engineering Technology and Business Administration and is a committee member of the Central Queensland Branch of the IPWEAQ. He was awarded IPWEAQ Young Engineer of the Year in 2013 for flood recovery efforts in the Bundaberg region following the disastrous events of January that year.
Postal Address:
Bundaberg Regional Council, PO Box 3130, Bundaberg QLD 4670
E-mail: [email protected]
Educated at University of Southern Queensland with a degree in Bachelor of Engineering Technology, and Masters in both Project Management and Business Administration. Matt has worked at BRC for the last 7 years and beyond typical design projects, has been involved in DBYD implementation, QA development and last, but not least, has been leading the implementation of ADAC for the past 2 years in Council.
Postal Address:
Bundaberg Regional Council, PO Box 3130, Bundaberg QLD 4670
E-mail: [email protected]
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