Increasing coordination of excavated material between infrastructure projects: Creation of a digital platform for the coordination of excavated material at the Swedish Transport Administration

Abstract

Efficient management of excavated material is a crucial part of the work towards reaching future climate goals. Through coordination of excavated material between different infrastructure projects, both the cost and environmental impact can be lowered, as well as minimizing the demand for new material. The overall aim of this thesis is to develop a digital platform for the coordination of excavated material between the Swedish Transport Administration’s infrastructure projects to achieve an efficient use of resources. Good examples of coordination as well as challenges and opportunities related to coordination have been identified through an interview study and an experience exchange meeting. The insights gained from this served as a foundation for the creation of Mass-Portal, which is a platform based on ArcGIS online. An automatic data entry has been created by the use of FME to minimize manual labor when updating Mass-Portal. This platform works by incorporating all relevant infrastructure projects owned by the Swedish Transport Administration, to be able to find nearby projects to coordinate with. To integrate this platform into the Swedish Transport Administration’s organizational structure, several implementation recommendations are provided, along with a suggested methodology for the use of Mass-Portal that involves roles at the Swedish Transport Administration and consultants. Mass-Portal is exclusive to the Swedish Transport Administration but would need to be scaled up and include all relevant actors to achieve its full potential.