BIM and GIS

If infrastructure project stakeholders want to manage the infrastructure of different classes, they must be able to operate on GIS and BIM as a continuum. It all depends on the type of information they need.

In the lifecycle of a construction project, BIM adoption brings a plethora of benefits; an important one among them is to make digital information a part of the deliverables for each stage. With the stakeholders being able to share the information among them more easily, they are able to take more coordinated and informed decisions at each stage.

Geographic information is an important component of the entire decision-making process in construction and nothing else than a GIS can enable everyone involved to become spatially aware most effectively. Using GIS enables people from different segments of the construction lifecycle to share a common picture of the project, provided by the GIS-generated maps. GIS must necessarily become the common visualization tool in the development sites.

GIS extends the value of digital BIM through visualization. Integration of BIM and GIS with time information, allows project participants to better understand the impacts of decisions before, during and after the construction of a project.


GIS in BIM


In the world of GIS world, the term ‘GeoDesign’ is used to refer to a scenario-based planning process that applies decision making to spatial problems in the context of local and regional features and characteristics. GIS is widely used for integrating, visualizing and analyzing information about real-world assets, such as buildings and transportation infrastructure, with surrounding context that may include environmental, demographic, structural, and scientific information. Maps that integrate GIS and engineering information are used to convey plans and status frequently in the initial stages of projects and during regular project updates.

The Web GIS approach allows the stakeholders to achieve a higher level of integration, wherein information from a variety of sources can get easily aggregated. This kind of integration offers a perfect way to capitalize on BIM data and synthesize it with other business systems such as asset management, space management at the campus or city scale.

Integration of BIM and GIS enables users to unlock the value in diverse data sets to enable applications including citizen engagement, sustainability analysis, disaster preparedness, and much more operational and management uses.

Keeping in view the developments taking place in the realm of BIM, especially around 3D modeling, the GIS capabilities also need to mature to better adapt and handle BIM 3D content, visualizations, and analysis. These enhancements will help the GIS platforms to more completely address the key needs of the stakeholders in construction projects who want to realize more value from the data in which they have already invested to better manage the full lifecycle of their projects and assets.

The world of construction has historically limited itself to CAD and has not been concerned about georeferenced infrastructure. However, the scenario is changing since GIS can create data models that support both geometric and hierarchical needs which can address inside and outside infrastructure. Clients are demanding that the final as-built design is delivered digitally and georeferenced as this facilitates long-term maintenance of sites. Before building designs are created, GIS can play an important role in the selection of sites and integration of data throughout the process. GeoDesign has the potential to enable the stakeholders in a construction project make the best possible decisions that support the maximum infrastructure lifecycle at the least cost. Neither CAD nor GIS can do this on their own. In nutshell, digital construction can scale unsurpassable heights with efficient integration of BIM and GIS.