Access to ROW Plans Significantly Improved Through Implementation of ProjectWise
March 16, 2015
Access to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Right-of-Way (ROW) plans has been improved significantly through a pair of related improvement efforts:
1) the implementation of ProjectWise, and
2) a concerted effort to scan and catalog decades of paper-based ROW information into the ProjectWise database.
Background
ProjectWise is a project collaboration and information software used for the design and construction of architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) of transportation infrastructure projects. Several years ago, CDOT implemented ProjectWise as the preferred platform to enable users throughout the state to submit ROW plans electronically for authorization.
To make the best use of the capabilities of this software, CDOT ROW personnel have also scanned and attached electronic attributes to more than 90 years of ROW plans, and then loaded these plans into ProjectWise -- plans which previously were available only in paper-based archives.
Key Benefits
These two related improvement efforts have resulted in significant benefits to CDOT:
FASTER ELECTRONIC PLAN SUBMISSIONS -- ROW plan users throughout the state are now able to submit ROW plans electronically for authorization – a task which previously was done manually. This improvement has shortened the authorization process by as much as a week on the front end, and time spent submitting revisions has been completely eliminated!
INSTANT ACCESS TO ROW PLANS -- This improvement effort has also greatly enhanced the ability to quickly search for plans statewide: all CDOT personnel with ProjectWise access -– from any location in the state -- now have instant access to historic ROW plans from as far back as the 1920’s and 1930’s!
EASIER SEARCHING -- ProjectWise is used extensively by CDOT surveyors, project managers, project engineers, and records custodians statewide on a daily basis. ProjectWise is a relational database which allows users to locate documents based on “attributes” such as location, description, project numbers, and project codes –- a significant improvement over the prior time-consuming method of manually searching through hard-copy files.