Project Information Management Systems in the Deep Foundations Industry: Difference between revisions

This document provides a general introduction to the concepts and applications of a Project Information Management System (PIMS) to the geotechnical foundations industry. While geotechnical projects have always generated data and created related visualizations and analyses, in the past decade the industry has seen an increase in specifications and owner requirements for formal data management and associated project submissions. At the same time, new and adapted technologies are emerging (the nature and rate of adoption of these differ across regions and owners) that allow increased automation and greater digitalization and generation of data in increasing volumes. The PIMS Committee of Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) was formed to guide the industry in navigating these trends and provide tools to DFI members to maximize the benefits from information management. This document was written by the DFI PIMS committee to provide some non-technical guidance to the industry on these concepts.  

The remaining sections of this document include a set of definitions, a discussion of some of the reasons for the geo-foundations industry to encourage the development of PIMS technologies, a brief review of existing technologies and procedures, and a discussion of the future of PIMS use for deep foundations. Future publications will present additional examples, case studies, and other tools to enhance your understanding of these technologies.

The best way to understand a PIMS is to consider it as a large collection of electronic devices, infrastructure components, data structures, software, and data access and visualization techniques; all amalgamated with a set of quality control processes and organizational methods used to coherently organize the data and information generated during the life of a construction project and disseminate them to project team members and stakeholders.