The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program is a landmark public/private partnership among the City of Chicago, the State of Illinois, six of the nation’s freight railroads and Chicago’s commuter railroad. In order to provide digital mapping and base engineering data to CREATE's many stakeholders, HNTB Corporation was tasked with the development and implementation of the CREATE GIS/Mapping Program and implementation of the CREATE Spatial Portal. This session explores how FME has played a key role in the success in these complex geospatial initiatives. We'll highlight how FME helped HNTB implement an overall solution which includes the provision of secure and centralized existing conditions data (LiDAR, CADD and GIS data) for more than 120 linear miles of rail/transportation corridors in the greater Chicago metropolitan area.

1. Using Geospatial Technology on
the Chicago Region Environmental
and Transportation Efficiency 2010:
An FME
(CREATE) Program Odyssey
Jeff Siegel, AICP, GISP
Technology Services Director
Michael Bieberitz, GISP
Technology Project Manager

2. Agenda
 CREATE Program
 Definition, background and objectives
 Geospatial technology endeavors
 Definition, background and objectives
 Data management techniques
 Applied Deliverables
 CREATE Spatial Portal
 Business case
 Primarily functionality
 Data extraction capabilities
2

3. CREATE Program
3

4. CREATE Program
ASSOCIATION
OF AMERICAN
RAILROADS
4

5. CREATE Program
Chicago Area Rail Infrastructure
• 78 yards, including 21 intermodal (rail-truck)
• 2,800 route-miles of track
• 12 commuter rail routes
• 1,100 viaducts and bridges
Daily Activity
– 1,200 trains
– 37,500 rail cars processed
– 20,000 truck moves through intermodal gates
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6. CREATE Program
CREATE Program
• Focuses operation on 5 corridors
• Combined length of corridors 122 miles
• Builds 25 road/rail separations
• Builds 6 passenger/freight rail fly-overs
• Improves train control system
• 50 miles of new track on existing right-of-way
• 364 new switches
• Automation of 14 interlockings
6

8. Rail over Rail
Brighton Park Grade
Separations
CP Canal
Englewood
74th Street
Chicago Ridge 75th Street

9. New or
Improved
Connection
Locations

10. Grade
Grade
Separations
Separatio
Projects
n
Projects

11. Geospatial Technology on
CREATE
CREATE Mapping Program
• OBJECTIVES
• Consistent, accurate product for multiple uses –
useful for planning, design and operations
• Speed in acquisition with minimal operational
impact
• METHODOLOGY: Primary technology FLI-MAP
• Cost – 25% of cost of traditional surveying methods
• Speed – All Projects and Corridors “Flown” and
initial projects complete within a year
• “Cutting Edge” – LIDAR Accuracy and Density
• Lots of value-add:
• Integration of GIS and Engineering Systems
• Aerial Photos and Videos
11

12. Geospatial Technology on
CREATE
General Mapping Process
Ground Cross GIS/CAD:
Control Section Survey DTM, Contour
Map
Planimetrics
ROW
Track Geometry
Flight
Planning
Aerial Video Data Verification
Right of Entry Data Orthophoto Reduction
Acquisition Lidar Data ROW
Survey Control
Set Lidar
Test Points
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13. LIDAR
Technology
John C. Chance Survey
13

14. Data
Extracti
on
14

15. Flip7 Field Survey Milepost
SQL DB
• Process Rail • Lidar Test Points • Extract
• Process Non-Rail (A3) • Unique ID
ASCII • Ground Control Physical MP
• Process Breaklines (A3) • Statistical QA
• Test Cross-sections location
• Ground Filter & Surface Clean • QA/QC
from ROW
(A3)
ArcGIS and LiDAR
• QA Check
ROW boundary
development
.SHP
ArcGIS
• Convert to Shape Files Planimetric
FME
.SHP Feature .SHP
• Export to Terramodel
• QA Check Deliverable
.SHP
Terramodel
.DGN
• Create DTM Model from
.DG Ground Model Project
Ground and Breaklines.
N
• QA Check .PR
Deliverable
• Export DGN O
CivilPak/
ASCII GeoPak TIN GeoPak
.DGN & .SHP
GeoPak
.TIN
.GPK
1 ft contours
CREATE Data Process
.DGN
Workflow HNTB Deliverables
METADATA IDOT Compliant DGN
.XML Geopak TIN
INROADS DTM
.HTML
Shapefiles
FME Workspaces
COGO (.GPK)

16. 16

17. CREATE
Geodata
-base
Model
Adapted from: American National Standard for Information Technology—
Geographic Information Framework – Data Content Standards
for Transportation Networks: Rail
17

18. FME WORKSPACE
GDB to Microstation (IDOT compliant)

19. Data
Conversion
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20. Deliverables
 LIDAR DATA
 VIDEO
 DIGITAL PHOTOS
 ORTHOPHOTO MOSAICS
 GIS Feature Classes
 CAD FILES (ENGINEERING)
 Design files
 DTMs
 TRACK GEOMETRY
 GROUND CONTROL
 DOCUMENTATION
 METADATA (HTML, XML)
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21. CREATE
Spatial
Portal
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22. GIS / Mapping and Data
Support
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www.createspatialportal.com

23. GIS / Mapping and Data
Support
23
www.createspatialportal.com

24. CREATE Spatial Portal
User can export
data in current
extent using
SpatialDirect
utility.

25. CREATE Spatial Portal
User selects
desired
output format
and
coordinate
system.

26. CREATE Spatial Portal
User selects
desired map
layers to
output.

27. CREATE Spatial Portal
Transformed
data is
packaged and
available for
user to
download as
a zip file.

28. CREATE Spatial Portal
Transformed
data can
they be used
by other
software
programs
such as
ArcMap.

29. GIS / Mapping and Data
Support
FME Server
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30. GIS / Mapping and Data
Support
Safe Software
30

31. Thank You!
Jeff Siegel, AICP, GISP
jsiegel@hntb.com
HNTB Corporation
www.hntb.com