# Geotechnical Property Modeling and Construction Safety Zoning Based on GIS and BIM Integration
## 4 Discussion and Conclusions  
Current research trends on the integration of BIM and GIS technology reveal the continuous growing interest in the field of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry that provided a better opportunity to integrate existing and new assets. GIS is a broad field providing a huge volume of geographic and geospatial information, while BIM focuses on detailed geometric and semantic information. An application of BIM and GIS integration is expected for geotechnical property modeling to identify best practices for construction management and safety. Even though the integration supports the visualization of the contextual GIS information in the BIM environment, however, its application for the geotechnical parameters modeling and classification into different zones was not explored. This paper presents the BIM and GIS integration for geotechnical parameter modeling, mapping, visualization, and the estimation of soil volume. The methodology has been described in three steps: (i) the collection of geotechnical parameters information into a database, (ii) spatial interpolation of the geotechnical parameters employing GIS technique, and (iii) visualization, management, and volume calculation using BIM technology. The paper contributes to the existing knowledge by providing a comprehensive method to achieve this integration and propose a novel approach to apply the developed digital maps for safe construction planning based on soil type. The geotechnical element uses IFC classes for the representation and management of geotechnical element in the BIM environment. IfcBorehole, IfcGeoslice, and IfcGeomodel are utilized for the representation of geotechnical borehole, geotechnical surfaces, and geotechnical solids. Furthermore, it uses the borehole data of Peshawar city providing easy and ready-to-use digital maps,  
Figure 10: (**a**) Soil classification map representing soil type in different regions according to OSHA defined soil classification; (**b**) Three-dimensional visualization of soil type according to OSHA (some of the layers were kept hidden for clarity). and its application according to OSHA soil classification for safe excavation construction provides an innovative approach in the field of construction planning and management. The OSHA has classified soil into stable rock, soil type A, type B, and type C [5]. Considering the soil type on the site, the protective system such as sloping, benching, and shoring can be planned and adopted accordingly. It can be seen from Figure 10, the proposed method developed successfully the soil classification model for the study region. The study area has all three type of soil and the rock is also available. From Figure 10, soil type A is represented in red color, which is cohesive soil and has high-unconfined compressive strength. It means that, this region in Peshawar city where soil type A is available can be cut with a higher slope (53 degree) because of high stability. Soil type B is dominant in the central part of the study area where 45 degree slope for excavation will be allowed for safe construction, while soil type C is prominent at the other side of the study covering more area than other types and 34 degree slope is allowed for such kind of soil. These three-dimensional maps with features illustrated in colors allow the user to identify the strong and weak layers and adopt the safe construction technique accordingly. Finally, the proposed method has excellent potential to integrate BIM and GIS for geotechnical modeling, providing a better visualized three-dimensional integrated model that can be used by construction planners and managers as a decision support system. The geospatial interpolation of the one-dimensional soil information along the depth provided by the borehole in the GIS is increased and geotechnical information is provided around the whole region. Also, it provides advantages in the data management and effective manipulation and analysis to produce geotechnical maps.