Bc Hydro
Case Study:
BC Hydro
Key Facts:
Industry: Utilities
Problem: Integrating and migrating data from multiple formats into GE Smallworld GIS
Solution: FME
Location: British Columbia, Canada
The Organization
BC Hydro is the predominant supplier of electrical
As-Constructed Mapping Program specification,
services in the province of British Columbia
and then writes out a new DGN file. Any features
serving more than 1.5 million customers. BC
that do not meet the design specification are
Hydro is currently implementing an Enterprise
saved on DGN Level 63 and a report is generated
Geographic Information System (EGIS) based
(see Figure 2 on next page) indicating where the
on the GE Smallworld GIS. The organization also
error occurred. To save time, some contractors run
uses MicroStation. Both GE Smallworld GIS and
FME themselves to check their photgrammetric
MicroStation run on Windows NT.
complilation work prior to submission to BC Hydro.
The Challenge
Figure 1:
Contractors provide data in MicroStation
DGN format. After verification and validation
procedures have been performed, the data needs
to be merged with provincial maps that are in
SAIF (Spatial Archive and Interchange Format).
Ultimately, all this data needs to be imported into
the GE Smallworld GIS.
The complexity of the BC Hydro EGIS data model
(over 230 feature types from the As-constructed
Mapping complilation), and the large number of
feature types that are imported from the GDBC TRIM
data (over 300 additional feature types) created a
key problem to be resolved. All these features had
to be available in MicroStation Design, Carl-Ziess
Phocus Phodat and GE Smallworld formats.
The Solution
BC Hydro chose FME® as a one-stop solution for
data verification, data translation, data merging,
and the data import into GE Smallworld GIS. View
a data flow diagram of the solution. Please refer to
Figure 1:
Data Verification: FME validates mapping
specifications. This process ensures all contractors’
data meets the BC Hydro Specifications for Data
Capture. FME reads the MicroStation Design files
supplied by the photogrammetric contractor,
checks that all features match the BC Hydro EGIS
Figure 2:
Data Translation: FME translates data from
MicroStation DGN format into the PHOCUS format
for use in the Carl-Ziess PHOCUS PHODAT system.
This allows comparison of the 3D vector data
with stereo-pair aerial photographs. All significant
features are checked to ensure they have accurate
elevations. FME then converts the PHOCUS PHODAT
back to DGN for data merging.
Data Merging: FME converts the provincial maps
Figure 3:
(TRIM data) from their native SAIF format to DGN
files. As a separate process, using MicroStation,
the TRIM data is merged with the As-constructed
Mapping Data. Since the As-constructed Mapping
Surveys are more accurate than the available TRIM
data, the TRIM is clipped out from the area or
strip-covered by the As-constructed Survey, and the
remaining TRIM features are tied in to match.
Data Import: As a final step, FME imports the
merged DGN files into the BC Hydro EGIS (GE
Smallworld format). An FME mapping file controls
exactly how FME performs the final import. To
simplify maintenance of the features, the entire data
schema for all three formats is summarized in a
single spreadsheet (refer to Figure 3). This defines
the geometry type, DGN display attribution, PHOCUS
schema and the complete GE Smallworld Landbase
schema. Adding or changing an existing GE
Smallworld object, for example, requires only a new
entry in the spreadsheet and then the new object
is available in the two other supported formats,
without requiring any changes to the FME mapping
files themselves. This greatly simplifies maintenance
of the EGIS data import system.
Learn More
To find out how FME can help address your data
interoperability challenge, or to download a free
evaluation copy of FME, visit www.safe.com.
Copyright © Safe Software Inc. 2007. All rights are reserved. Printed in Canada.
FME is a registered trademark of Safe Software Inc. All other brand or product names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or organizations.
