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Buildings
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Towards More Practical BIM/GIS Integration
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Towards More Practical BIM/GIS Integration

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 7284

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Junxiang Zhu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Civil Engineering, Department of Engineering, The University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK
2. School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Interests: BIM/GIS integration; industry foundation classes; digital twin; GeoBIM; graph
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ran Wei

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK
Interests: model-based systems engineering; digital twins; automated software engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yi Tan

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Colledge of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518052, China
Interests: BIM/GIS integration; industry foundation classes; digital twin; VR/AR; smart construction and O&M
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mengtian Yin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Civil Engineering, Department of Engineering, The University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UK
Interests: BIM; digital twin; AI for construction; ontologies; natural language processing; graph ML

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The integration of building information modelling (BIM) and geographic information systems (GIS) contributes to digital twins and, more broadly, the Smart City. Over the last fifteen years, this topic has been investigated by researchers from various fields at both the fundamental data level and the higher application level.

The data-level integration primarily deals with two tasks, i.e., geometry conversion and semantics transfer. In terms of geometry conversion, early studies focused on the conversion of IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) into CityGML (City Geography Markup Language), GML (Geography Markup Language), or shapefile, while Semantic Web techniques, such as resource description framework (RDF), were used to deal with the semantics.

In recent years, more technologies and data standards have become available, such as the labelled property graph (LPG)-based graph database, 3D tiles, Indexed 3D Scene Layer (I3S), and the new CityGML 3.0. These new, emerging technologies, as well as those in relevant areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Mixed Reality (MR), introduce new opportunities to deal with practical problems. Therefore, the purpose of this Special Issue is to showcase the use of BIM/GIS integration, in conjunction with other technologies, in solving practical problems relating to, but not limited to, the following:

  • Digital twin;
  • Smart city;
  • Emergency response, e.g., indoor/outdoor route planning;
  • Natural hazard, e.g., flood, landslide;
  • Digital building permit;
  • Infrastructure management, e.g., railway, road, and dam;
  • Indoor/outdoor navigation;
  • Infrastructure operation and maintenance;
  • City information modelling.

Dr. Junxiang Zhu
Dr. Ran Wei
Dr. Yi Tan
Dr. Mengtian Yin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • BIM/GIS integration
  • semantic web
  • graph theory
  • labelled property graph
  • infrastructure management
  • building permit
  • smart city
  • digital twin

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 8353 KiB  
Article
Bridge Digital Twin for Practical Bridge Operation and Maintenance by Integrating GIS and BIM
by Yan Gao, Guanyu Xiong, Ziyu Hu, Chengzhang Chai and Haijiang Li
Buildings 2024, 14(12), 3731; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14123731 - 23 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1996
Abstract
As an emerging technology, digital twin (DT) is increasingly valued in bridge management for its potential to optimize asset operation and maintenance (O&M). However, traditional bridge management systems (BMS) and existing DT applications typically rely on standalone building information modeling (BIM) or geographic [...] Read more.
As an emerging technology, digital twin (DT) is increasingly valued in bridge management for its potential to optimize asset operation and maintenance (O&M). However, traditional bridge management systems (BMS) and existing DT applications typically rely on standalone building information modeling (BIM) or geographic information system (GIS) platforms, with limited integration between BIM and GIS or consideration for their underlying graph structures. This study addresses these limitations by developing an integrated DT system that combines WebGIS, WebBIM, and graph algorithms within a three-layer architecture. The system design includes a common data environment (CDE) to address cross-platform compatibility, enabling real-time monitoring, drone-enabled inspection, maintenance planning, traffic diversion, and logistics optimization. Additionally, it features an adaptive data structure incorporating JSON-based bridge defect information modeling and triple-based roadmap graphs to streamline data management and decision-making. This comprehensive approach demonstrates the potential of DTs to enhance bridge O&M efficiency, safety, and decision-making. Future research will focus on further improving cross-platform interoperability to expand DT applications in infrastructure management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards More Practical BIM/GIS Integration)
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23 pages, 9587 KiB  
Article
Framework of Scan to Building Information Modeling for Geometric Defect Localization in Railway Track Maintenance
by Bilawal Mahmood and Seok Kim
Buildings 2024, 14(11), 3578; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14113578 - 11 Nov 2024
Viewed by 993
Abstract
Railway transportation plays a vital role in modern society, enabling the safe and efficient movement of people and goods over long distances. To ensure the longevity and safety of a railway infrastructure, the regular maintenance of tracks is crucial. Traditional track inspections, conducted [...] Read more.
Railway transportation plays a vital role in modern society, enabling the safe and efficient movement of people and goods over long distances. To ensure the longevity and safety of a railway infrastructure, the regular maintenance of tracks is crucial. Traditional track inspections, conducted manually to monitor geometric parameters and to identify defects, are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to human error. Current Scan-to-BIM frameworks for railway maintenance also lack standardized methods for extracting geometric parameters that can be easily integrated into Building Information Modeling (BIM). Additionally, the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard, used for BIM data exchange, does not support storing parameter values at specific chainage points along the track, limiting defect localization. A framework is proposed to address these challenges by standardizing the extraction of geometric parameters from point cloud data and ensuring seamless integration with BIM. The framework calculates parameters at station chainage points and generates additional chainage points along the track, associating the data with the corresponding chainage. A case study demonstrates the framework’s ability to enhance defect localization, using the EN 13848-5 European Standard to identify defects at specific chainages. Ultimately, this approach contributes to the more effective lifecycle management of railway tracks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards More Practical BIM/GIS Integration)
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25 pages, 16927 KiB  
Article
A Study on the Visual Perception of Cultural Value Characteristics of Traditional Southern Fujian Architecture Based on Eye Tracking
by Jianxun Deng, Junlong Chen and Ying Lei
Buildings 2024, 14(11), 3529; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14113529 - 5 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1469
Abstract
The traditional Southern Fujian architecture serves as a reflection of the region’s deeply rooted cultural values. However, research on the architectural and cultural heritage of Southern Fujian remains scarce. Accordingly, this study employs eye-tracking technology to experiment with 20 individuals with local cultural [...] Read more.
The traditional Southern Fujian architecture serves as a reflection of the region’s deeply rooted cultural values. However, research on the architectural and cultural heritage of Southern Fujian remains scarce. Accordingly, this study employs eye-tracking technology to experiment with 20 individuals with local cultural backgrounds and 20 without it to investigate the differences in the perception of the architectural heritage of Southern Fujian by individuals with disparate cultural backgrounds. The findings indicate that distinct groups evince disparate visual perceptions of the architectural and cultural heritage of Southern Fujian. The participants’ attention was divided into two categories: patterns and shapes and calligraphy and text. Non-locals were primarily drawn to patterns and shapes, whereas locals demonstrated a greater interest in the calligraphy and text category. The extraction of cultural information from calligraphic characters requires greater understanding and more time spent within the culture. Knowledge of local cultural backgrounds is helpful to better understand such information. This highlights the potential impact of Southern Fujian architecture on the local population. These findings provide a compelling rationale for the incorporation of multicultural elements in contemporary architectural design while also advocating for the preservation and advancement of Southern Fujian architectural heritage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards More Practical BIM/GIS Integration)
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30 pages, 35030 KiB  
Article
Data Management Framework for Highways: An Unreal Engine-Based Digital Sandbox Platform
by Huabing Lv, Guoqiang Wu, Jianping Song, Chunhua Mo, Guowen Yao and Xuanbo He
Buildings 2024, 14(7), 1961; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14071961 - 28 Jun 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1895
Abstract
The problems of information isolation, inefficiency, and paper-based data archiving in traditional highway survey and design methods are investigated in this paper. A novel digital sandbox platform framework was developed to promote the efficiency of route design, model data integration, and information sharing. [...] Read more.
The problems of information isolation, inefficiency, and paper-based data archiving in traditional highway survey and design methods are investigated in this paper. A novel digital sandbox platform framework was developed to promote the efficiency of route design, model data integration, and information sharing. Under the presented framework, an integrated application method for both the Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies was designed by using Unreal Engine technology. Firstly, a digital base model was established by integrating multi-disciplinary BIM model data and GIS three-dimensional (3D) multi-scale scene model data. On this basis, using Unreal Engine technology for visualization development, a digital sandbox platform with the data visualization, traffic organization simulation analysis, 3D spatial analysis, component information query, and scene switching functions was developed, which satisfies the 3D visualization and digitalization needs in the current highway planning and design. Additionally, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed to analyze the impact of digital base model on the development and application of platform modules, including five crucial factors: data accuracy, data representation, multi-source data fusion, data management capability, and scene semantic representation. Finally, the research results indicate that the proposed digital sandbox platform framework provides users with a platform for integrated data management, information sharing, and 3D data visualization, while reducing design time by 30%, total design cost by 12%, and land occupancy rate by 10%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Towards More Practical BIM/GIS Integration)
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