DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTYPE GEOTECHNICAL REPORT

Abstract

Archive geotechnical reports in the department contain valuable information such as site maps, photographs, borehole data, laboratory and field test data, and design analyses. A proper use of the information may bring significant cost saving for future projects. Currently, thousands of archive geotechnical reports are stored in paper file boxes in the material division of the department. The current way of file storage makes it very difficult to search and distribute the geotechnical information. The objective of this study is to develop a prototype geotechnical report database to allow easy report archiving and accessing for the department. The research team investigated the practice and recent development of other state DOTs and assessed the efficiency of the current file storage in the material division. The prototype database developed currently allows all computers under ODOT network to search and view about one hundred geotechnical reports in pdf format. The database was developed using Microsoft Access. However, the information in the database can also be accessed from an equivalent KML file using Google Earth, Google Map, ArcGIS desktop, ArcGIS explorer or other compatible programs. With the KML file, users can view all available reports on a map and access the PDF reports by clicking the hyperlink on the map.