DIGGS: Setting the Standard for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Data Management

摘要

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Transportation formed a work group comprised of 11 State DOTs, United Kingdom Highway Agency, USGS, USEPA, US Army Corps of Engineers, FHWA Ohio Division, and FHWA Office of Federal Lands Highway to oversee the development of data dictionaries and data formats for geotechnical management systems through Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) project TPF-5(111) "Development of Standards for Geotechnical Management Systems". One of the products being produced through the pooled fund project is a geotechnical and geoenvironmental data exchange standard called Data Interchange for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (DIGGS). The first version of DIGGS is being released in 2008 and will include standards for borehole, laboratory test, deep foundation, and borehole geophysics data. DIGGS provides a standardized means of geotechnical and geoenvironmental data exchange between disparate databases. There are several significant advantages to the user of DIGGS including: ability to exchange data between databases within an organization and with external organizations, ability to efficiently incorporate data from consultants into any database, ability to perform software-automated data checks, ability to exchange data between compatible software packages, and the ability to merge databases and incorporate software into an integrated geotechnical management system. DIGGS facilitates the seamless flow of geotechnical and geoenvironmental data from point of generation, through project usage, to storage, and then reuse. Several DIGGS compatible tools will be available at the time of the release of DIGGS version 1.0. These tools include: a database with GIS interface for state transportation agencies, software for subsurface data reporting, a virtual data center that enables data exchange across organizational boundaries, and the United Kingdom Highway Agency geotechnical management system. Several geotechnical and geoenvironmental software vendors have already included DIGGS translators in their software.