Implementation of Facility Management for Port Infrastructure through the Use of UAVs, Photogrammetry and BIM

Abstract

The maintenance of port infrastructures presents difficulties due to their location: an aggressive environment or the variability of the waves can cause progressive deterioration. Maritime conditions make inspections difficult and, added to the lack of use of efficient tools for the management of assets, planning maintenance, important to ensure operability throughout the life cycle of port infrastructures, is generally not a priority. In view of these challenges, this research proposes a methodology for the creation of a port infrastructure asset management tool, generated based on the Design Science Research Method (DSRM), in line with Building Information Modeling (BIM) and digitization trends in the infrastructure sector. The proposal provides workflows and recommendations for the survey of port infrastructures from UAVs, the reconstruction of digital models by photogrammetry (due to scarce technical documentation), and the reconstruction of BIM models. Along with this, the bidirectional linking of traditional asset management spreadsheets with BIM models is proposed, by visual programming, allowing easy visualization of the status and maintenance requirements. This methodology was applied to a port infrastructure, where the methodology demonstrated the correct functionality of the asset management tool, which allows a constant up-dating of information regarding the structural state of the elements and the necessary maintenance activities.

Keywords

• port infrastructures
• facility management
• building information modelling (BIM)
• unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS)
• photogrammetry
• visual programming