AWWA ACE56293

AWWA ACE56293 Long Beach Water Uses Computer Technology to Access As-Built Drawings When and Where They Need Them
Conference Proceeding by American Water Works Association, 06/16/2002

Leung, Eric; Spangenberg, Jon; Hamawi, Izzat

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As-built drawings have long been used by the Long Beach Water Department (LBWD) as the last word on underground water utilities. Such information is vital when responding to a water main break or when designing new facilities near existing ones. Until recently, as-built drawings were stored away in a central map vault, making them difficult to access when needed. This paper describes how, with the help of CDM, LBWD developed the As-built Image Retrieval System (AIRS), a computer-based system that allows both engineers and field personnel to access as-built drawings when and where they are needed. LBWD designs and replaces approximately 100,000 linear feet of potable water pipelines each year. The As-Built Water Design Drawings Project consisted of approximately 120,000 linear feet of water pipelines, involving approximately 120 drawings, constructed within the city of Long Beach during 1999-2000. The project objective was to translate comments from "red-line" drawings marked by field personnel on to the original vellum/mylar plans. Final as-builts were then scanned into digital files. AIRS was developed under this project to maximize the usefulness of the digital as-built drawings. AIRS provides a means to access and view digital as-built drawings, and links as-built drawings to existing database and geographic information systems (GIS) tools already familiar to LBWD personnel. For years, LBWD has tracked water main construction projects using a relational database program. They also built an impressive GIS-based water atlas that geographically represents all water mains throughout their system. AIRS is designed to complement these systems, extending their functionality. The project-tracking database was extended to include data on scanned as-built drawings and the interface was enhanced to allow users to view as-built drawings from within the program. Thus, with a few clicks, an engineer sitting at a desk can view high-quality scans of the as-built drawings for construction projects. Includes figures.