## 1 Introduction  
### Background  
Underground utilities provide supplies of water, gas, electricity, and telecommunication so citizens can carry out their daily basic needs of life without any interruptions. However, due to the unavailability of data and the complexity of underground utilities, it is one of the major risks in earthwork operations. The poor information management of utility infrastructure leads towards utility damage, injuries, fatalities, disruptions, and project delays. Furthermore, it can lead to the direct and indirect financial impact on the construction projects, and direct financial impacts are easy to estimate. In contrast, indirect financial losses are complicated to quantify and address [1]. Underground space construction contains a large amount of risks [2]. Precise and detailed information about 3D geographic ground and underground infrastructure is needed to address the associated problem to facilitate in the design, construction, and maintenance stages. Various countries have defined rules and regulations of pre-marking with flags, paint marks, and stakes for the excavation in the vicinity of utility lines. Implementation of these rules and regulations is not enough to avoid utility strikes. One of the main reasons for these strikes is the lack of information from as-built drawings regarding the depth, size, orientation, and exact location of buried utility [3]. Information about the existing utilities is insufficient and inaccurate in records to identify the true location of the utility before excavation [4]. Most of the information on underground utilities is provided in two-dimensional (2D) maps, making it very difficult to identify the utilities in the same coordinates and creating a large amount of confusion among excavation workers [5]. 3D modeling and design tools enable construction managers and stakeholders to visualize real-world infrastructures that better understand construction projects at different life stages. Several researchers have worked in recent years to visualize the underground utilities in three-dimensional (3D) space. 3D visualization during the excavation work in earthwork projects has evolved in the last decade, and 3D design methodologies for earthwork sections have been standardized [6]. However, there is a lack of a mechanism for developing 3D models for the management of underground utilities and standardization of the process during the lifecycle of the projects. At the design stage, BIM models provide a better understanding to the stakeholder of the project [7]. During the construction, 3D technology uses automation techniques such as GPS machine guidance that links the 3D model with the construction equipment to guide the equipment operation with excellent accuracy and precision. There is an increase in interest in the 3D visualization of underground pipes, whereas this process is quite challenging [8]. At the operation and maintenance phase, 3D information about the existing assets such as underground utilities is very useful. Different methodologies can be adopted for the 3D visualization of the underground utilities. It is very important to use a technique that clearly distinguishes each utility and precise location [5]. Furthermore, the surrounding environment, such as terrain, existing utilities, and other facilities, is important to consider as it can hugely impact construction activities. Geographic information system (GIS) provides information about existing facilities in a wider geographic context. Building information modeling (BIM) stores, manage, visualize, and interprets project information over the lifecycle. BIM technology allows for the construction managers to visualize the utility planning and design information during excavation work [9]. The advantages of BIM are providing rich 3D geometric and semantic information [10], while GIS supports the geospatial models with accurate coordinate information that helps in geovisualization-based decision making.