ABSTRACT
In June 2019, buildingSMART International (www.buildingsmart.org) launched the development of a neutral format, IfcTunnel, to structure and optimize data exchanges for underground infrastructure projects that complements the al- ready available standards for the exchange of roadways, railways and buildings projects information. The international team (60+ experts) that has driven this effort was made up of tunnel owners, general contractors, civil engineering, systems engineering and geotechnical consultants and BIM-for-Infrastructures specialists, and has defined the func- tional scope to cover the life cycle of a tunnel (functional program, design phases, construction, project acceptance, tunnel operation, monitoring and maintenance). The metholodology followed has developed 30 use cases identifying the information exchanged over such a cycle from a business logic (geotechnics, excavation and support, operating systems) as well as in terms of the nature of the objects required to describe the underground projects components (geo- positioning, geometries, semantics and functional capacities). The results got presented to 3 panels of 100+ international experts gathered in November 2019, March and May 2020 leading to a final requirements report (June 2020) the basis upon which the second phase of the project was initiated. It led to IFC technical specifications (December 2022) allow- ing for the implementation of IfcTunnel data exchange abilities in the professional software available on the market, and will then enter into the specific ISO standard creation process. This work was also shared in bimonthly joint com- mittees with the International Tunnelling Association (WG 22) so to ensure that it matches the needs of the industry.
