Design of information management system for underground pipelines

Since the data of underground pipelines (such as pipeline type, distribution and location, etc.) are missing or biased in modern cities, underground pipelines are usually damaged during construction, which cause lots of accidents. How to manage underground pipelines data effectively becomes a focused issue. The solution of this issue will greatly improve the utilization efficiency of underground space and the level of city management. An information management system is designed for underground pipelines in this paper by using B/S (Browser/Server) architecture. The database is designed in the server to store the pipeline data. MapServer, an open source GIS software, is applied to provide information services via networks. Users can find and modify the pipeline data using the browsers (such as IE, Firefox etc.). Therefore, users can manage information easily. For example, users can obtain the information of existed pipelines in the trenchless site and add new data to the system through wireless network. In addition, the virtual reality modeling language (VRML) is also used to get the 3D display for the pipelines in this system. Compared with the conventional management based on paper documents, this system has many advantages, such as convenient for storage, large storage capacity, good compatibility, easy to modify and query etc.