For Immediate Release
Contact: Allen Finch
Director of Marketing
804.200.6373

August 16, 2005 - Richmond, VA - Timmons Group, a leading provider of geospatial and engineering Services, recently completed the CADD / GIS Visualization project for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). Timmons Group was hired by VDOT to design and implement a solution that supports VDOT’s overall data integration and visualization goals. The project required the visualization of hundreds of thousands of MicroStation CADD drawings stored in VDOT’s existing Document Management System (DMS). The objective was to enable VDOT personnel to access engineering-grade CADD data via the web, in tandem with VDOT’s GIS layers stored in their ESRI ArcSDE� data repository.

Working with Timmons Group, VDOT decided on a solution that integrates ESRI’s ArcIMS, ArcSDE, and FME (Feature Manipulation Engine) Objects from Safe Software with VDOT’s existing DMS. “This was a challenging project as CADD and GIS data are very different in nature. Integrating the two is not trivial. We enjoyed working with Timmons Group on this important project, and the application will add great value to our ability to integrate transportation data” said Dan Widner, Transportation Geospatial Manager for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Users of the Timmons Group-designed web visualization portal now have the ability to query the DMS database for VDOT “projects” which have associated with them many source CADD files (e.g., survey, bridge, hydrology, sound wall, etc). The data management engine of the CADD visualization application determines whether, since the last conversion, any CADD files have been altered. Any altered files are then reconverted seamlessly from MicroStation to ArcSDE and, once converted, are available for visualization on the web with supporting GIS layers (e.g., wetlands, endangered species, etc). The application also includes a management interface for batch mode conversion and substantial job tracking functions.


About Timmons Group

Timmons Group is a leading provider of geospatial, information architecture and engineering services headquartered in Virginia with offices in North Carolina, the Washington D.C. area, Pennsylvania and Canada. Timmons Group is a privately held ENR 500 company and maintains strong business partner relationships with ESRI, Azteca and NovaLIS Technologies. Timmons Group has been a recipient of both the ESRI Business Partner of the Year award and the ESRI Foundation Partner of the Year award.

For more information about Timmons Group services, contact Lowell Ballard at Email Contact.