Development of concrete bridge data schema for interoperability

The advancement of key aspects of bridge information modeling for software interoperability and data exchange has attracted increasing interest from various stakeholders in the bridge industry. Potential benefits include reductions in project delivery time, errors, and cost. However, a lack of standardized data exchange protocols hinders the development and deployment of such modeling. This situation causes the still-all-too-fragmented bridge industry to waste a large amount of money each year. The research presented in this paper was motivated by the advantages of using interoperability to streamline the approaches used to deliver concrete bridge projects. Every bridge project requires frequent communication; without improved software interoperability, projects can become bogged down with requests for information. This paper develops, demonstrates, and implements key aspects of interoperable data schema protocols that can be used to facilitate the exchange of bridge information in the planning, design, detailing, fabrication, and construction phases of concrete bridge projects. These protocols will be public domain and software neutral with their implementation being considered in various bridge software applications.