Maas-Waal Canal area data in good shape

Having accurate and complete area data is of major importance for ensuring optimal asset management. Witteveen+Bos, under contract to Rijkswaterstaat, checked the area data relating to the Maas-Waal Canal for currency, reliability and completeness. Any missing or incomplete area data was also added.

The Maas-Waal Canal was built in 1927 to provide a connection between the Meuse (Maas) River, near Heumen, and the Waal River, near Nijmegen. The Heumen Locks are located on the south side, while the Weurt Locks are located on the north side. In addition, the canal is crossed by five road bridges and a railway bridge. In light of the age of the Maas-Waal Canal, it is conceivable that a lot of information about it exists, as well as duplication among the various systems and many obsolete documents.

Classification
We received approximately 6,000 documents (drawings, reports, inspection results, as-built files, etc.) related to the Maas-Waal Canal - from various Rijkswaterstaat management systems - and labelled them in terms of currency, reliability and completeness.

Text analysis techniques were used to automatically classify the documents and facilitate their subsequent evaluation. All documents were entered into a database, linked to the appropriate level in the tree structure depicting the various objects of the canal, and subsequently labelled in terms of currency, reliability and completeness in accordance with previously established criteria. Missing or unusable area data was either supplemented on the basis of new studies or completely redeveloped. For this purpose, focused technical inspections were carried out, risk assessments (RI&E) were prepared, management and maintenance plans were developed for both locks, and a green management plan was developed for the canal. The correct information, including the currency, reliability and completeness metadata generated by the project, will be put back into Rijkswaterstaat’s management systems.