This paper discusses the challenges faced by large engineering firms in organizing and analyzing vast amounts of diverse geospatial data to support complex engineering projects worldwide. For Bechtel, the implementation of an Enterprise GIS has greatly facilitated spatial data sharing and utilization, but has required much forethought and planning in the architectural design, standards and tools required to deploy and maintain such information in a global work environment. With the GIS technical discipline and spatial data being a relatively new centralized resource within the company, and given the great variety of CAD, GIS and other data sources and formats that are involved in supporting Bechtel projects in its five Global Business Units (GBUs), the issues of data interoperability, data model standardization, reliability, security, and scalability continue to be central to the implementation and deployment strategies being adopted for the company. Data originating from government agencies, GIS vendors, clients, subcontractors, and different disciplines within the company come in a variety of data formats, ranging from hand drawings, text files, emails, spreadsheets, database files, AutoCAD and MicroStation CAD drawings, MapInfo files, ESRI shapefiles or geodatabases. Standardized GIS desktop procedures have been developed and are then used to diligently catalog, verify, geo-reference, and load these datasets into a central Oracle Spatial database conforming to the Spatial Data Standards for Facilities, Infrastructure, and Environment (SDSFIE) data model. GIS layer and feature-level metadata is then prepared and loaded into the system to document the pedigree, data source, purpose, publication or revision date, access and use restrictions, and project of each dataset. A web service-oriented, component-based, multi-tier Application Development Framework was developed to provide a foundation for enterprise-level GIS application development. GIS automation is a key means to standardize GIS analysis processes and data access to the enterprise system. A spatial data search and retrieval tool, called the BecGIS Spatial Data Tool, was developed to allow easy discovery and access of spatial data and map products through theme and place keyword searches of GIS layers housed within the enterprise system. User access is controlled by a multi-tiered security strategy implemented through operating system and database authentication, access control, and encryption. Separate database instances secure Bechtel public versus project-specific data layers and individual schemas, spatial views and web map services are used to further segregate information and control access within the database. The system is further secured within the company's Bec Web firewalled intranet environment, preventing external access to this valuable company resource. Bechtel's enterprise GIS approach has been successfully implemented and is currently employed in a variety of Bechtel's businesses, including support of nuclear power combined operating licensing applications, large-scale market analysis for telecommunications clients, geotechnical investigations at construction, power, mining and metals sites, as well as pipeline routing in the oil and gas industry. It demonstrates that an interoperable approach to enterprise GIS design and deployment through standardized data models, workflow processes, and automation tools greatly improves the effective retrieval and usability of spatial data in a global work environment.
