SERVING SOCIETY: HOW 3D GEOLOGICAL MODELS SUPPORT THE REMEDIATION OF HISTORICAL CONTAMINATION AND BRIDGE THE GAP TO FUTURE DIGITAL CONSTRUCTION

The Swiss Geological Survey (SGS) is the Swiss Confederation’s competence center for assessing the sub-surface and uses 3D geological modelling for the benefit of the society in various ways. Four examples are presented here:

1) Remediation: In December 1947, an underground Swiss Army ammunition depot exploded at Mitholz and consecutively left several thousand tons of unexploded ordnance in the facility. 70 years after the event, the Swiss Government decided to completely remediate the site. The SGS supports the project in a number of ways: 1) the reconstruction of a time-series of surfaces depicting the changes in the terrain surface at particular times over the past 90 years – a vital foundation in a number of applications; 2) the 3D representation of the cavern system of the facility; 3) the 3D modeling of geological structures in the immediate vicinity of the facility for geotechnical and hydrogeological purposes; 4) the creation of a material block model defining the spatial and temporal changes of both geological and anthropogenic materials and 5) the publication of the 3D models.

2) Geol_BIM: The increasing digital form of collaboration in the construction world is creating a demand for interoperability and digital continuity of geological information. In collaboration with partners, the SGS successfully completed the integration of geological data into the BIM (Building Information Modeling) environment.

3) Unconsolidated sediment modelling: Most of the built environment and urban areas in Switzerland are located on top of unconsolidated sediments, which house most of the drinking water deposits. However, authorities are interested in understanding the subsurface to better manage the drinking water resources. Here, a detailed understanding of the lithostratigraphic architecture of these deposits is considered a key prerequisite for future sustainable and efficient drinking water usage. The data acquisition as well as its regional harmonization plays a key role. Therefore, a modelling methodology and a first order regional geological model was developed by the SGS to serve for further geological and hydrological investigations.

4) Data supply: Many geological datasets are available for search, query and download in its correct spatial location at viewer.swissgeol.ch, the award winning open source 3D viewer of the SGS.