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 International data standards for geotechnical engineering
Les normes internationales de données pour l'ingénierie géotechnique

D.G. Toll
School of Engineering, Durham University, Durham, UK Email: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
The World Wide Web has revolutionised data access for all aspects of our daily lives. However, to allow full use of geo-engineering
data from the web, as part of our professional activities, it is necessary for the data to be available in a structured and standardised
form. This will allow the World Wide Web to become an international repository for geotechnical information, available to the whole
community. A further advantage of developing data standards is to allow transfer of data between computer systems providing a data
exchange format between different organisations or an interchange format for linking different software packages. The development
of data standards for geo-engineering is now an important activity for the three international societies (ISSMGE, IAEG and ISRM)
through Joint Technical Committee, JTC2 (http://www.dur.ac.uk/geo-engineering/jtc2). JTC2’s role is to oversee the development of
internationally agreed forms of representation of geo-engineering data. The paper discusses standardised XML schemes that are in
development for geo-engineering and presents examples for borehole records and slopes. The DIGGS data format (Data Interchange
for Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Specialists) is discussed and comparisons are drawn with data standards in the geosciences
(eg GeoSciML). The paper also considers how web-based data could be used, such as the use of a case-based reasoning system for
slope design using a global database of slope case histories.
RÉSUMÉ
Le World Wide Web a révolutionné l'accès aux données sur tous les aspects de notre vie quotidienne. Toutefois, pour permettre la
complète utilisation des données de la géo-ingénierie sur le web, dans le cadre de nos activités professionnelles, il est nécessaire que
les données soient disponibles sous une forme structurée et normalisée. Cela permettra au World Wide Web à devenir un référentiel
pour l'information géotechnique, à la disposition de l'ensemble de la communauté. Un autre avantage de l'élaboration de normes de
données est de permettre le transfert de données entre des systèmes informatiques offrant un format pour l’échange de données entre
les différentes organisations ou d'un format permettant de relier différents logiciels. Le développement de normes de données pour la
géo-ingénierie est désormais une activité importante pour les trois sociétés internationales (ISSMGE, IAEG et ISRM) par le Joint
Technical Committee, JTC2 (http://www.dur.ac.uk/geo-engineering/jtc2). JTC2 a le rôle de superviser le développement international
des formes de représentation des données de géo-ingénierie. Cet article traite les schémas standardisé XML qui sont en cours de
développement pour la géo-ingénierie et présente des exemples de forages et les pentes. Le format des données DIGGS (Data
Interchange for Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Specialists) est examiné et des comparaisons avec les données sont tirées des
normes employées dans les géosciences (par exemple GeoSciML). Le document examine également comment les données sur le Web
pourrait être utilisé, comme l'utilisation d'un raisonnement par cas (Case Based Reasoning) pour le système de la pente, en utilisant
une base de données globale de cas de la pente.
Keywords : data standards, world wide web, XML, borehole, slope

1 INTRODUCTION the development of internationally agreed forms of

representation of geo-engineering data. The data standards
The World Wide Web provides us with easy access to a huge developed can be used to store such data on the World Wide
amount of information. However, at present, the data we can Web and will ensure that geo-engineering data is stored in the
access exists in many formats. To allow routine use of geo- same format anywhere on the web.
engineering data from the web, as part of our professional The major advantage of having data standards for web-based
activities, it is necessary for the data to be stored in a structured data is that it will make it possible to search all geotechnical
and standardised form. The way to achieve this is by adopting data available on the web using structured search options
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and developing (XQuery). For instance, it would be possible to locate XML
internationally agreed data standards for geo-engineering. files that contain projects within a particular geographical
XML is a simple and highly extensible way to represent location or having particular soil/rock types or where a
data, which is sufficiently flexible to allow data standards to particular type of test has been performed. In this way the
continue to evolve to meet the needs of geo-engineering World Wide Web will become an international repository for
professionals. The concept of creating a geotechnical version of geotechnical information, available to the whole community.
XML was first proposed by Mete Oner and the World Wide This avoids the necessity to establish national or international
Web of Geotechnical Engineers (http://www.ejge.com/Gml/) in geotechnical databases; each data owner can make their data
1998. There are now a number of initiatives to develop directly available on their own web server.
representation schemes, both for geo-engineering and for geo- A further advantage of developing data standards is to allow
science data. The three international geo-engineering societies transfer of data between computer systems. XML uses very
(ISSMGE, IAEG and ISRM) have a Joint Technical Committee, simple text files that can be easily accessed and read. Therefore,
JTC2 (http://www.dur.ac.uk/geo-engineering/jtc2) to oversee it can be used as a data exchange format between different

Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering 2690
M. Hamza et al. (Eds.)
© 2009 IOS Press.
doi:10.3233/978-1-60750-031-5-2690
 D.G. Toll / International Data Standards for Geotechnical Engineering 2691

organisations or an interchange format for linking different The advantage of using XML for representation is that the
software packages. In this way XML could become the data (stored in a simple text-based .xml file) is separated from
integrator between the different types of geotechnical tools the formatting information. Formatting can be provided by the
(databases, knowledge-based systems, visualisation packages, use of a Stylesheet (.xsl) file. This means that the data can be
conventional calculation software, numerical modelling formatted in different ways for presentation without having to
packages etc.). make changes to the data file. Examples of how XML data can
The paper discusses standardised XML schemes that are in be formatted using stylesheets or represented graphically were
development, with examples for borehole records and slopes. given by Toll and Shields (2003) and Toll and Cubbitt (2003).
The DIGGS data format (Data Interchange for Geotechnical and
Geo-environmental Specialists) is discussed and comparisons
are drawn with data standards in the geosciences (eg 4 GEO-ENGINEERING DATA STANDARDS
GeoSciML). The paper also considers how web-based data
could be used, such as the use of a case-based reasoning system Toll (2007a) discusses some of the current initiatives underway
for slope design using a global database of slope case histories. to develop data standards for geo-engineering. The most
significant development is the DIGGS project (Data Interchange
for Geotechnical and Geo-environmental Specialists)
2 DATA REPRESENTATION (http://www.diggsml.com/) which is discussed in more detail
later in the paper.
The initial impetus for the development for data standards was Another initiative is a collaboration between JTC2 and the
for data exchange in geotechnical engineering. Greenwood ISRM’s Commission on Testing Methods to develop
(1988) and Threadgold and Hutchison (1992) identified the standardised forms of representation for rock test data. This is
need to have a standard interchange format that was being achieved through the establishment of a joint Working
independent of particular software packages. This led to the Group on for Representing ISRM Suggested Methods in
development of the Association of Geotechnical and Electronic Form (RISMEF).
Geoenvironmental Specialists (AGS) data format in the UK in JTC2 will also work with JTC1 (Joint Technical
1992 (the current version is available as AGS, 2004). A similar Commission for Landslides and Engineered Slopes) to develop
scheme for CPT data was developed in the Netherlands (CUR, forms of representation for slopes (Toll, 2007b).
2000).
Such data exchange formats have been highly successful.
Toll (1996) reported strong support for the AGS format from all 5 OTHER DATA STANDARDS
involved, from data producer to data receiver/user, and also
software developers. The format brought greater reliability and In addition to Geo-Engineering schemes there have been
consistency to data transfer. However, such schemes were prone parallel developments of XML schemes for geological sciences
to problems when data sets were generated that did not fully and mining. These include eEarth, XMML (eXploration and
conform to the standard. Mining Markup Langauge) and GeoSciML. eEarth
The success of these data exchange formats for ground (http://www.eearth.eu) was a European funded project that links
investigation data led to the development of XML data formats. the Geological Surveys of six European countries. The project
Toll and Shields (2003), Chandler et al (2006), Weaver et al aimed to increase availability, use and distribution of the digital
(2008) have described XML schemes for representing ground subsurface data across Europe. The project is now completed
investigation data. The use of XML has the advantage that it can and the website provides access to borehole information from
be self validating; the data standard can have a “schema” several countries and in multiple languages. XMML
definition that defines the required structure for the data and the (https://www.seegrid.csiro.au/twiki/bin/view/Xmml) was aimed
naming of the tags. It can even contain validation rules that at geoscience and exploration information. It has now been
specify the required format of the data within the tags, or even subsumed by GeoSciML (http://www.geosciml.org/) which
limiting ranges for the values. A data file that does not conform aims to represent geoscience information associated with
to the standard will show errors when validated against the geologic maps and observations, as well as being extensible in
schema. the long-term to other geoscience data.
Toll and Cubbitt (2003) also recognised that XML could do There have also been developments in generic
more than just provide a data exchange format. XML data representations schemes, using XML, that have wide
formats allow storage and display of geotechnical data on the application, such as Geography Mark-up Language (GML) and
World Wide Web. In addition to “borehole” data from ground SensorML. GML (http://www.opengis.net/gml/) is a widely
investigations, Toll and Cubbitt discussed how geotechnical used and well-developed standard for representing geo-spatial
entities (e.g. foundations, retaining walls and dams) could be data. It has constructs for representing coordinate schemes,
represented in XML. Hatipoglu (2003) outlined an XML locations and features that are geo-referenced. SensorML (2005)
schema for storing case histories of slopes and this was allows the representation of data from sensors
extended by Toll (2007b). Styler et al (2007) described a (http://vast.uah.edu/SensorML/). Although initially developed
scheme for deep foundations. to represent sensors for earth observation, much of the work is
generic enough to be applicable to other types of sensors (see
Toll, 2008a for applications to geotechnical engineering).
3 EXTENSIBLE MARKUP LANGUAGE (XML)
6 DIGGS
XML is a more generic form of mark-up language than HTML
(Hyper-Text Markup Language), which has been the main DIGGS represents the most advanced development of data
language used on the World Wide Web. XML allows simple structures in geo-engineering. This is a collaboration between
text files to be 'marked up' by including 'tags' that can be used to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), United States
give meaning to the contents of a file; for instance data can be Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), US Army Corps
marked up using <slope> ... </slope> tags to indicate that all of Engineers, US Geological Survey (USGS), Eastern Federal
data between these tags relates to slope information. These tags Lands Highway Division (EFLHD) and a number of
can be recognised by an XML compliant web browser. XML is Departments of Transport in USA, funded through the
being widely adopted by web developers for producing web- Transportation Pooled Fund. The UK Highways Agency is
based materials (http://www.w3.org/XML/). also a collaborator. DIGGS brings together existing standards
2692 D.G. Toll / International Data Standards for Geotechnical Engineering

Figure 1. Data structure for DIGGS based on DIGGS, 2006 and Styler et al, 2007 (Toll, 2007a)

developed by AGS (www.ags.org.uk/agsml), Consortium of It is therefore essential that a representation scheme is

Organizations for Strong-Motion Observation Systems capable of operating at any of these different levels of
(COSMOS) (http://www.cosmos-eq.org/GVDC.html) and the representation. Toll (2007b) outlined a three level representation
University of Florida, Department of Civil Engineering of topography that can be used to satisfy the varying
(http://fdot.ce.ufl.edu/). requirements. At Level 1 the slope is defined simply by an
Currently the DIGGS framework defines over 300 overall slope angle and overall slope height (or Crest and Toe
geotechnical, geoenvironmental, monitoring and piling objects elevations). At Level 2 the slope is divided into segments (each
and associated properties (Bray et al, 2008). The high level data referenced by height above the toe) which can be described as
structure for the ground investigation and piled foundation Slope Segments (defined by angle/height), Bench Segments
objects are shown in Figure 1. (primarily defined by bench/berm width) or Wall Segments
There were some concerns with the emerging DIGGS (primarily defined by wall height). Of course, each segment can
standard. Toll (2007a) identified the problem of a lack of have other properties attached, such as surface cover or
consistency between geo-engineering schemes (such as geomophological descriptions. At Level 3 the topography is
DIGGS) and geo-science schemes (such as eEarth and defined by coordinates allowing a very detailed topographic
GeoSciML). It is vital that these different naming systems are representation (in 2D or 3D).
eliminated to avoid a lack of compatibility between common Whetton (2009) has further developed the representation
data entities being used by both the geo-engineering and geo- scheme and also provided ways to link the slope data with
science communities. ground investigation data in the DIGGS format. Further tools
DIGGS has made extensive use of GML for representing have been developed, particularly the use of an SVG (Scalable
spatial data. However, Toll (2007a) suggested that the location Vector Graphics) application to display the slope data in a
representation used in early versions (DIGGS, 2006) could use browser (Figure 2).
a simpler GML construct to aid compatibility with other SVG is an XML application for describing images. It
schemes. This seems to have been addressed in the latest allows slope data stored in XML format to be transformed into
release (DIGGS, 2008). an image for display within a web browser. The image is
generated from the XML data describing the topography, the
ground conditions and defined failure surfaces. This is greatly
7 REPRESENTING SLOPES preferable to storing an image file (such as a .jpg or .gif file)
as it means that if changes are made to the XML defining a
Slope data is used by a range of professionals: geotechnical slope, the image can be regenerated directly to reflect any
engineers, geomorphologists, geologists and planners. They changes.
may each need to represent information in different ways. Even
if we consider only topographic information, different levels of
representation are likely to be needed. Those dealing with 8 USING XML DATA ON THE WEB
hazard assessment (using GIS systems) will typically work with
data on the slope height, slope angle and aspect (as well as Fyson and Toll (2008) demonstrated a case-based reasoning
lithology and land use). Geomorphologists may want to divide a system (SlopeSafe) for preliminary design of slopes.
slope up into segments having different land forms. SlopeSafe
Geotechnical engineers will usually produce quantitative cross-
sections showing detailed topography.
 D.G. Toll / International Data Standards for Geotechnical Engineering 2693
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