An open-source GIS app for digitalising bridge inspections and automating BIM model integration

Ensuring the safety and functionality of civil infrastructure, especially bridges, is critical for sustainable transportation networks. To streamline maintenance operations, on-site inspections are periodically conducted. The routine inspections of bridges frequently depend on manual processes, which diminish efficiency and data accessibility, leading to errors that jeopardise accurate decision-making. This paper advocates for the digitalisation to address these issues, developing a low-cost Geographical Information System (GIS)-based app for streamlined bridge inspections. The digital protocol automatically transfers georeferenced on-site inspection information into the bridge's Building Information Model (BIM) using a parametric programming tool. This integration aims to improve decision-making in maintenance operations. The developed approach is validated through a real bridge inspection of a concrete bridge in Spain.