Guide to Life-Cycle Data and Information Sharing Workflows for Transportation Assets TR-714, September 2018

Thanks to an array of advanced digital technologies, much of today’s transportation project data are available in digital format. However, due to the fragmented nature of the highway project delivery process, the growing amount of digital data is being archived and managed separately. This makes it difficult for professionals to take full advantage of the efficiencies of digitized data and information. The purpose of this research was to identify current data workflows and areas for improvement for five of the most common types of highway assets—signs, guardrails, culverts, pavements, and bridges—and offer guidance to practitioners on how to better collect, manage, and exchange asset data. The research team conducted focus group discussions and interviews with highway professionals to capture their knowledge and practices about the data workflows. In addition, the team conducted an extensive review of the literature, manuals, project documents, and software applications regarding the exchanged information. For each type of asset, an information delivery manual (IDM) was developed. Each IDM consists of several process maps (PMs) and one exchange requirement (ER) matrix. A total of 15 PMs and 5 ER matrices were developed. A set of limitations in current data workflows was identified and a set of recommendations to overcome those limitations was also determined and documented. The conclusion was that current data workflows were designed mostly for contract administration purposes. Thus, more efficient asset-centric data workflows need to be implemented to truly streamline the data workflows throughout an asset’s life cycle and minimize wasted resources in recreating data in the asset maintenance stage