Extending BIM for 3D digital management of land and property data in underground infrastructure projects

Underground infrastructure projects, such as tunnels, are facing challenges in 3D digital representation of land and property data. Existing 3D data models are mainly focused on buildings, having limited capability to address large scale nature of infrastructure projects which include hundreds of legal spaces. To address this data modelling gap, this study identifies 3D data requirements, including planning, physical and legal data, critical for managing land and property ownership in infrastructure projects. Based on these requirements, this work develops a new extension to the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard in the Building Information Modelling (BIM) domain, with a focus on Victoria, Australia as a case study jurisdiction. The proposed IFC extension provides the capability to represent 3D legal spaces associated with land and property ownership in underground infrastructure projects. It is validated through an IFC prototype model, showcasing visualisation of legal and physical dimensions of infrastructure projects in an integrated 3D digital environment. This work lays the foundation for integrating legal and physical dimension of underground infrastructure projects and supporting BIM-driven 3D land administration in these projects.