Functional Part: Corridor

Name

Corridor

Identifier

fp_corridor

Overview

This functional part defines the requirements for modeling and exchanging corridor geometry information in a highway BIM environment. A corridor represents the three-dimensional volume that defines the roadway traveled way, typically extending from centerline to edge-of-pavement and along the alignment. Corridors serve as the organizing framework for lanes, shoulders, pavement sections, and other roadway components.

The functional part supports multiple use cases across the project lifecycle:

  • Geometric definition: Establishment of corridor boundaries and width variations along the alignment
  • Component organization: Hierarchical containment of lanes, shoulders, and pavement sections within the corridor volume
  • Design coordination: Integration of corridor geometry with drainage, utilities, and structures
  • Quantity extraction: Automated calculation of pavement areas and volumes for cost estimation
  • Construction planning: Generation of typical section data and stationing information

This functional part leverages IFC schema extensions for infrastructure, particularly IfcFacilityPart or IfcCivilElement for representing corridor volumes with associated property sets for width, stationing, and component relationships.

Results

Purpose

The purpose of this functional part is to standardize the exchange of corridor geometry information between BIM authoring tools, civil engineering software, and analysis applications. By providing a consistent data structure, this functional part enables seamless exchange of corridor boundaries and cross-sectional definitions, hierarchical organization of roadway components (lanes, shoulders), automated generation of typical sections and assemblies, integration with earthwork and pavement design tools, and construction staking data for field layout.

Concepts

Information Needed Entity/Pset/Functional Part MAN REC OPT NOT
Corridor width at begin Pset_CorridorWidth.CorridorWidthBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcPositiveLengthMeasure X      
Corridor width at end Pset_CorridorWidth.CorridorWidthEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcPositiveLengthMeasure X      
Corridor begin station Pset_CorridorStations.CorridorStationBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure X      
Corridor end station Pset_CorridorStations.CorridorStationEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure X      
Number of lanes Pset_CorridorInformation.NumberOfLanes IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcInteger   X    
Number of shoulders Pset_CorridorInformation.NumberOfShoulders IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcInteger   X    
Unique identifier for corridor element IfcCivilElement.GlobalId IfcGloballyUniqueId X      
Object identification code Pset_Identification.ObjectID IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLabel X      
Feature designation code Pset_Identification.FeatureID IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLabel   X    
Feature description text Pset_Identification.FeatureDescription IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcText   X    
Survey feature code Pset_Identification.SurveyFeatureCode IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLabel   X    
Referenced alignment identifier Pset_AlignmentDataLinear.AlignmentIDReference IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLabel X      
Referenced corridor identifier Pset_AlignmentDataLinear.CorridorIDReference IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLabel X      
Begin station value Pset_AlignmentDataLinear.StationBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure X      
Begin station offset Pset_AlignmentDataLinear.StationOffsetBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure X      
End station value Pset_AlignmentDataLinear.StationEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure X      
End station offset Pset_AlignmentDataLinear.StationOffsetEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure X      
Reference point location Pset_AlignmentDataLinear.ReferencePointLocation IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLabel X      
State plane northing coordinate at begin Pset_StatePlaneCoordinatesLinear.NorthingBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure   X    
State plane easting coordinate at begin Pset_StatePlaneCoordinatesLinear.EastingBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure   X    
State plane northing coordinate at end Pset_StatePlaneCoordinatesLinear.NorthingEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure   X    
State plane easting coordinate at end Pset_StatePlaneCoordinatesLinear.EastingEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure   X    
LRS postmile begin value Pset_LRSDataLinear.PostmileBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure     X  
LRS postmile end value Pset_LRSDataLinear.PostmileEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLengthMeasure     X  
LRS route identifier Pset_LRSDataLinear.LRSRouteID IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcLabel     X  
GPS latitude at begin Pset_GPSCoordinatesLinear.LatitudeBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcReal     X  
GPS longitude at begin Pset_GPSCoordinatesLinear.LongitudeBegin IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcReal     X  
GPS latitude at end Pset_GPSCoordinatesLinear.LatitudeEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcReal     X  
GPS longitude at end Pset_GPSCoordinatesLinear.LongitudeEnd IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcReal     X  
GPS control point reference Pset_GPSCoordinatesLinear.GPSControlPoints IfcPropertySingleValue::IfcText     X  

Examples

Example 1: Multi-Lane Highway Corridor - Design Phase

Use Case: Exchange corridor geometry for a four-lane divided highway section from roadway design software to drainage analysis tool.

Scenario: A state highway project includes a 2-mile section of four-lane divided highway. The roadway designer has established the corridor geometry with variable width to accommodate auxiliary lanes at intersections. The drainage engineer needs corridor width and stationing data to design longitudinal drainage systems.

Data Flow:

  1. Roadway designer creates corridor in civil design software with alignment reference
  2. Corridor data exported to IFC format including width variations and station limits
  3. Drainage engineer imports IFC file into hydraulic modeling software
  4. Software extracts corridor boundaries to define drainage basin limits
  5. Drainage engineer designs longitudinal drainage considering corridor width

Key Information Exchanged:

  • Corridor ID: “Corridor-NB-001”
  • Alignment reference: “US-Highway-20-NB”
  • Station begin: 100+00
  • Station end: 205+50
  • Width begin: 48 feet (2 lanes @ 12’ each + 2 shoulders @ 12’ each)
  • Width end: 60 feet (includes 12’ left-turn lane auxiliary)
  • Number of lanes: 2 (through lanes)
  • Number of shoulders: 2

Example 2: Corridor Assembly - Construction Phase

Use Case: Generate construction typical section data showing corridor composition for contractor bidding.

Scenario: A corridor typical section must be documented showing the relationship between lanes, shoulders, and pavement structure for contractor understanding and bid preparation.

Data Flow:

  1. Design team defines corridor with nested lane and shoulder components in BIM model
  2. Corridor hierarchy exported to IFC showing parent-child relationships
  3. Construction management software imports IFC and generates typical section diagrams
  4. Typical sections included in contract documents with station ranges
  5. Contractor uses typical sections to understand pavement limits and quantities

Key Information Exchanged:

  • Corridor: “Mainline Corridor STA 50+00 to 125+75”
  • Contains: 2 travel lanes (Lane-1-SB, Lane-2-SB)
  • Contains: 2 shoulders (Shoulder-RT-SB, Shoulder-LT-SB)
  • Total corridor width: 44 feet
  • Pavement section reference: “Type A Full-Depth Asphalt”
  • Station-based width table included for variable-width sections

Example 3: Corridor-Based Quantity Extraction

Use Case: Extract pavement quantities from corridor geometry for cost estimation.

Scenario: Estimating team needs accurate pavement surface area calculations based on corridor geometry to prepare cost estimates for resurfacing project.

Data Flow:

  1. Existing conditions modeler creates corridor representing existing pavement limits
  2. Corridor geometry exported to IFC with accurate stationing and width data
  3. Estimating software imports IFC and calculates surface areas per corridor
  4. Quantities extracted as station-based areas for variable-width corridors
  5. Cost estimate prepared using extracted quantities and unit prices

Key Information Exchanged:

  • Corridor: “Existing Pavement - EB Lanes”
  • Station begin: 0+00, Station end: 315+20
  • Average width: 24 feet (2 lanes)
  • Calculated surface area: 18,150 square yards
  • Pay item: “Asphalt Pavement Milling, 2-inch depth”
  • Estimated quantity: 18,150 SY