Data Drops for Tunnel Information Modelling

n the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, as well as in the tunnelling domain, inter-company processes between partners in different roles in large-scale construction projects still exhibit great potential towards digitalisation. Thereby, information should be seamlessly shared between partners according to the Building Information Modelling (BIM) paradigm. Today, different types of artefacts (e.g., models, plans, documents, etc.) are shared at different points in time, which differ in terms of requirements, information content, as well as data formats. In this article, we extend and prototypically implement the concept of Data Drops to provide those artefacts in a digitalised form via a shared Data Drop management platform. For this purpose, we have developed a formal, well-defined indexed data structure on a metadata level. This not only facilitates traceability, but also enables searching for specific meta-information and provides a common view on Data Drops. In addition, a networked view between different drops can be provided. The approach is being evaluated on the use case of a real tunnel construction project.