IFC as a Bridging Element in BIM/GIS Integration for Sustainable Management of Disused Railway Civil Engineering Assets

Digital transition is deeply changing the AECOO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Owner Operators) sector. This transformation, based mainly on Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is a key element in facing new challenges linked to climate and urban changes, mitigating environmental impacts and promoting energy efficiency. In the infrastructure domain, a main criticality is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improving sustainable mobility. In this perspective, a disused railway may offer the opportunity to give back to the community a path unique in its kind, transforming it into a corridor for soft mobility. This study aims to present a digitalisation workflow to identify and model disused railways civil engineering assets: starting from a literature overview about the use of the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) open-standard format for civil engineering assets, a case study of a viaduct from a disused railway is presented testing the potentiality of IFC as a bridging element for BIM/ GIS interoperability. The aim is the creation of an integrated system that enhances data accuracy, consistency, and accessibility throughout the project life cycle.