4 GIS Applications in Civil Engineering

Arguably one of the industries that utilizes GIS and other geospatial technology the most is civil engineering. Civil engineering refers to the study, design, and development of the built environment. Everything from bridges to roads, to water supply systems are the result of civil engineering. 

As the oldest form of engineering, the discipline has changed drastically since its beginning. While this could have referred to something as simple as a simple roof on a house in the past, it now expands to NYC skyscrapers. Larger projects such as these are made easier by technology. 

The application of advanced technology has allowed the industry to grow and branch out into a number of disciplines. Stemming off of civil engineering are branches like transportation engineering and environmental engineering. 

One way or another, civil engineering is everywhere. The evolution of the discipline has given way to modernization and the application of new technology. One of the most revolutionary technologies in this area is GIS, which has proven to be an asset in civil engineering work. 

4 Ways that Civil Engineering Uses GIS Technology 

1. Site Planning and Development

Where is the best place to build a water supply system? Is that city block capable of housing a large building? Are there nearby utilities to tap into?

Questions such as these are why planning and spatial analysis are so important in infrastructure development and construction. The time and resources that go into building a water supply system or a bridge are immense. There’s no room for error or wasted time. 

This is where data-driven decision making comes into play. With GIS technology, data obtained by professional surveys, academic studies, and other means can be used for spatial analysis. By overlaying layers of data and visualizing it on geographic maps, civil engineers can better plan locations for structures large and small. 

2. Infrastructure Asset Management 

There’s more to the civil engineering industry than building new structures. After projects get built, things need to be maintained over time in order to function as they were designed. Underground drainage pipes need to be maintained to be kept free of blockages. Pavement markings and street signs may need to be refreshed or updated. 

GIS and location technology are critical elements of modern infrastructure asset management (IAM) systems. They help provide the foundation for a system that centralizes records for inspections, maintenance requests and work orders. Most modern IAM systems use maps and GIS layers so that these records easily visualized. Doing so also enables synchronization between crews in the field and the office. For example, enterprise GIS systems can enable an organization to deploy field crews with mobile devices used to capture data during inspections and then have those updates show up in the office in a matter of minutes.

3. Environmental Impacts

There are all sorts of environmental factors to consider during many civil engineering projects. The distance to nearby waterbodies or wetlands may restrict development options. The soils on a site may determine how the foundation should be built or how the site drains. There may be rules and regulations that require certain developments to monitor and restrict the types and levels of pollutants produced by a project. 

In all of these cases, civil engineers take data gathered by surveys, remote sensing, and other means of collection and use it to guide their designs and to build predictive models to assess the environmental impact of a project. GIS software can be an incredibly powerful tool for building these models and making sure that measurements are accurate.

Engineers may also be involved with site remediation – cleaning up sites that have been impacted by pollution. In these cases, location technologies can help engineers do things like determine possible off-site sources of pollution or determine the extent of impact for something like underground storage tanks. 

4. Natural Disaster Management 

Civil engineers are often involved in the planning and response efforts surrounding natural disasters. They may help identify critical infrastructure that needs attention prior to events like hurricanes, or they may be involved in post-disaster response teams to help perform condition assessments and monitoring. 

Like all the other areas discussed above, geospatial technologies can be an engineer’s secret weapon when managing natural disasters. GIS can help engineers do things like predict areas where the impact of an event, such as a flood, will be the most damaging. It can also help engineers plan evacuation routes or where first responders should prioritize their efforts. 

Maps are an excellent medium for organization and communicating critical information quickly. When utilized to its highest potential, GIS can be an invaluable tool used by engineers involved with natural disaster planning and recovery. 

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