Application and Comparison of Different HBIM/GIS Integration Methods in Railway Infrastructure Heritage: A Case Study of the Muling River Bridge along the Chinese Eastern Railway Main Line

Abstract. The infrastructure heritage built between 1897 and 1903 constitutes an important part of the Cultural Heriatge of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), a designated National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in China. However, most of these heritage assets remain unlisted, unprotected, and undocumented, and are increasingly at risk from natural degradation and human activities. The Muling River Bridge, China’s first stone railway arch bridge located on the eastern section of the CER main line, is facing such challenges. While HBIM/GIS integration has become a widely used method in architectural heritage conservation, its application in infrastructure heritage remains limited. This study applies the HBIM/GIS integration approach to the Muling River Bridge by establishing a unified historical archive database, a geographic information database, and an HBIM model composed of both forward modelling (based on historical drawings) and reverse modelling (based on current point cloud data). The source-consistent dataset was integrated using three platforms: a commercial GIS solution (ArcGIS®-based), an open-access GIS solution (QGIS-based), and an BIM/GIS integration platform (Autodesk® InfraWorks®). The platforms were evaluated and compared in terms of four aspects: (1) integration complexity, (2) supported data types, (3) 3D visualization quality, and (4) ease of remote public access. The findings contribute to improved strategies for the digital management and protection of linear infrastructure heritage, offering guidance on selecting appropriate platforms for public engagement with digital conservation results.