3D GIS: Revolutionizing Community Well-being and Infrastructure Resilience 

By Adam Radel GISP, manager of spatial strategy, and Laura Lloyd, senior planner & geospatial developer at HNTB

In urban design and construction, innovative technologies like 3D Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have emerged as pivotal resources for advancing climate resilience and sustainable development strategies. This technological approach enhances project execution and transforms community stakeholders’ interactions with their environment, facilitating a new era of intuitive and integrated urban development.

There is immense potential for digital transformation to redefine the landscape of infrastructure planning and implementation. Integrating 3D GIS tools into every project development phase—especially during the critical planning stages—has set a new standard for how projects should be envisioned and executed. HNTB’s upcoming work for the City and County of Denver’s Waterway Resiliency Program underscores this point. The program will restore a 6.5-mile stretch of the South Platte River, Weir Gulch, and Harvard Gulch as a flood mitigation effort, support ecological restoration, and create community value for some of the region’s most underserved neighborhoods.

The challenge is significant: How can we visualize and plan such a complex, multi-faceted project? The solution is leveraging our team’s creative ideas as well as cutting-edge tools. For instance, ArcGIS Reality Studio creates immersive 3D environments that include everything from environmental data and community feedback to intricate design details and utility networks. 

This innovative method will allow us to transition from static 2D maps and plans to visualize complex datasets in a dynamic, 3D interactive environment that can be used to convey the future design and benefits to stakeholders and the public. The benefit will be immediate and profound. The shift to three-dimensional visualizations through 3D GIS brings a dynamic approach to design and stakeholder engagement and leads to specific benefits that underscore the value of digital transformation solutions in infrastructure development. These advantages are evident across several key areas. 

Visualizations and analytics
Sophisticated visualizations enable a transformative view of what the future looks like for our projects. For example, 3D GIS uses high-resolution imagery to create a 3D mesh of an area and strip away visual “noise.” This enables technical teams to create simple, easy-to-understand visualizations that can be presented to the community. 

For the project, our approach enables the generation of a 3D mesh of Interstate 25 in downtown Denver. The removal of all the cars from the remote sensed data scene allows the project planners and analysts to get a clearer picture of the area. Then the ability to add additional GIS data such as FEMA flood zones and Justice40 Disadvantaged Communities further enabled the 3D GIS platform to operate as a digital whiteboard. Operating on a digital whiteboard, the platform improves the planning and design phases and enhances public engagement and education. Furthermore, advanced analytics integrated within these visual tools allow the project team to gain important insights from large datasets, supporting faster and more informed data-driven decision-making.

Data sharing across agencies
For this project, and others like it involving multiple stakeholders, project success hinges on working from the same data and agreeing on how to move forward. For the Waterway Resiliency Program, HNTB is using 3D GIS to integrate design, environmental, socioeconomic, utility, and community data into a cohesive solution. This will allow various groups to work from a single source of truth, ensuring consistent understanding and supporting agile and timely data-driven decision-making within a long-term program schedule.

Community and environmental benefits
The benefits of digital transformation solutions extend beyond technical achievements, to real-world community and environmental outcomes. Projects can be optimized through detailed simulations and predictive analytics to minimize ecological disruption and maximize benefits to local communities. 

The future of digital transformation solutions in resilient infrastructure

As infrastructure projects increase in complexity and scope, the role of digital transformation solutions becomes ever more critical to project success and maximizing benefits while minimizing impacts. 3D GIS is not merely a tool for visualization—it is a groundbreaking platform for innovation that transforms how we plan, design, and interact with our built environments. It empowers us to imagine and implement more sustainable, resilient, equitable, and beneficial solutions.

It is crucial to continuously explore how digital tools can enhance our projects and benefit the communities we serve. Embracing this technology and its potential to revolutionize infrastructure planning and construction will lead to a more resilient and integrated future for all.