Rail Revitalisation Project - Department of Planning, Transport, and Infrastructure

Rail Revitalisation Project

Project Summary

This Rail Revitalisation project in South Australia was part of the state’s $2.6 Billion upgrade to public transport services. The survey aspect of that involved over 110 kilometres of Adelaide’s metropolitan rail network.

The Challenge

Annotation with lengthy descriptions was used in survey models which combined services, signals, numerous pieces of track equipment, and stations. Attaching photography to the survey data was required to better display the features. Due to the number of photographs taken (in the order of 1,000), an automated methodology was required to achieve the results.

In addition, the rail corridor contained a mass of assets unique to railways - a challenge for a department largely focused on road projects prior to this project.

The Solution

Using a GPS camera, the team added images and site photos into 12d Model in an automated process to supplement a standard survey model with information that would not be practical to key in as text.
Using the CAD Insert Image command to insert a JPEG into a 12d Model project allowed them to set a precedent for other images to follow - the first image was inserted as a sample only, with the manual process needing only to be done once.
Adding attributes to the point/inserted image allowed for attributed information either pertaining to or extracted from the image to be associated with the vertex.
Exporting the model with the sample image provided a base for the mail merge to be set up.
GPS-Photo Link camera software facilitated a CSV Export of the images with their associated coordinates and attributes.
Any attribute columns that needed to be populated manually were added, and needed to correspond with the field names in the 12d ASCII file, as created previously.
The mail merge document was created, merging the repetition of the single point, with a JPEG appended for each field photograph and creating a model of points for each.
Initially, photographs were used to remove large quantities of text from the survey model, avoiding lengthy descriptions of assets cluttering the view. The uses for this quickly grew to include:
• Identifying signal numbers and types
• Determining track circuit frequencies
• General Site and track condition assessments
• Geotechnical bore log results
The finished product allowed for a virtual site visit capturing far more than just engineering survey breaklines. 12d Model managed datasets across multiple disciplines including Design, Signalling, Geotech, Contamination, and asset management.

The Result

The finished product can be seen in the attached image.