InfraHBIM/HBIM–GIS integration for the reconstruction and remote access of the First Songhua River Bridge heritage complex along the Chinese Eastern Railway (1901–1961)

Abstract The First Songhua River Bridge of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) entered service in 1901 and was protected by three military blockhouses constructed between 1915 and 1917. As the first metal bridge in the country exceeding one kilometre in length, the bridge represents a major achievement in the engineering history of the CER. Although the bridge preserves a substantial and diverse collection of historical archives, these materials have not been systematically organised, while archival records for the blockhouses remain scarce. In 1961, the original curved-chord through trusses and deck trusses were replaced and upgraded. To address these issues, this study proposes an Infrastructure HBIM (InfraHBIM) and HBIM–GIS integration methodology for this transport infrastructure heritage to support archival management, documentation, phase-based three-dimensional reconstruction and web-based remote access. The InfraHBIM model of the bridge representing its state between 1901 and 1961 was reconstructed using a forward modelling strategy based on historical archives, while the HBIM models of the blockhouses were developed through reverse modelling driven by point-cloud data acquired by drone photogrammetry. During the integration phase, heterogeneous datasets were organised within a GIS database derived from historical records and field investigations, and the integrated models were published via ArcGIS ® Online to enable interactive visualisation, attribute query and remote access. The proposed approach provides a reusable reference for the digital management of large-scale linear heritage systems such as railways, canals and defensive networks, while supporting professional decision making as well as public interpretation and engagement.