A Literature-Informed, Stakeholder-Driven Proposal for Tunnel Asset Management: Integrating GIS and Sensor Monitoring

The management of infrastructure assets is essential for ensuring the safety, durability, and efficiency of transportation networks. There is an increasing tendency to integrate traditional Asset Management (AM) with developing technologies to enhance maintenance strategies, improve safety measures, and optimize decision-making processes. Tunnel Asset Management (TAM) as part of the broader framework of Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM) is being revolutionized by the ever-increasing interoperability of innovative solutions such as Internet of Things (IoT) systems, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the way asset data is collected, analysed, and utilized. A comprehensive literature review of the state-of-the-art of TAM served as the genesis for the workflow identification of the final proposal that this thesis aims to give. The thesis explores how real-time data collection can be connected to GIS software and display continuously the assets’ state, enhancing the decision-making-related process. For this thesis, it was used ArcGIS Pro software to visualize a selected portion of a tunnel located in Liguria, Italy, and an IoT-based sensor technology connection to it to analyse live readings of 4 parameters: temperature, humidity, structural vibrations, and CO levels. By adopting this proposal, stakeholders can use real-time tunnel data with GIS technology to enhance monitoring and improve overall asset management practices. This approach can be highly effective in addressing important challenges within TAM, such as the optimization of maintenance schedules, early detection of any hazards, and enhanced stakeholder communication. By the development of a Dashboard for the final data visualization, it highlights the future prospects of IoT and GIS regarding the revolutionization of asset management practices by providing user-friendly, accurate, and actionable information. The proposal examines its strengths and limitations and offers recommendations and the potential for future work in the field, applicable in various categories of assets. Ongoing development in technologies and interoperability holds the power to further enhance the capabilities of TAM, contributing to an infrastructure that accounts for the times of climate change and is sustainable and resilient.