A Gap Analysis of Existing Database Management Practices and Ontology Development for UDOT Tier 1 Safety Assets

Adams, Brig Dean; Esteghamati, Mohsen Zaker

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A Gap Analysis of Existing Database Management Practices and Ontology Development for UDOT Tier 1 Safety Assets

2026-06-01
By Adams, Brig Dean ; Esteghamati, Mohsen Zaker

File Language:

English

Details

Creators:

Adams, Brig Dean ; Esteghamati, Mohsen Zaker
Corporate Creators:

Utah State University
Corporate Contributors:

Utah. Department of Transportation. Research and Innovation Division ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
Subject/TRT Terms:

Asset Management Data Analysis Database Management Systems Data Governance Data Integration Data Management Metadata Ontology Surveys Transportation Safety Transportation Safety Asset Management Transportation System Management
Publication/ Report Number:

UT-26.14
Resource Type:

Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:

United States ; Utah
Edition:

Final Report: Feb 2025 to June 2026
Corporate Publisher:

Utah. Department of Transportation
Abstract:

This study evaluates transportation asset data management practices within the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and identifies opportunities to improve data governance, integration, and interoperability through ontology-informed enterprise data management principles. Current practices were assessed through stakeholder surveys, asset database reviews, and a gap analysis comparing existing conditions with best practices from the literature on enterprise data management, ontology engineering, and data lake architecture. Findings revealed challenges including fragmented data storage, inconsistent terminology, limited metadata documentation, unclear stewardship responsibilities, and reliance on unstructured condition reporting. These issues reduce data usability, hinder integration efforts, and limit advanced analysis capabilities. To address these challenges, a proof-of-concept ontology and standardized schema were developed for selected transportation safety assets, including barriers, pavement, sign faces, and sign assemblies. The proposed schema introduces structured metadata categories and new fields for asset status, condition, and damage classification to improve consistency and reduce reliance on free-text data entry. Ontology development principles informed the organization of asset concepts, relationships, and metadata, creating a semantic foundation for future enterprise applications. The framework was implemented and validated within Google Cloud Dataplex using business glossaries, metadata catalogs, and data quality rules. Results demonstrated the feasibility of ontology-informed data management practices for improving data discoverability, governance, interoperability, and decision support, while establishing a foundation for future enterprise-wide transportation asset data integration at UDOT.
Format:

PDF
Funding:

25-8903
Collection(s):

US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:e8fc2a70f76e0873c38ffad93554b020812e2251ccb439be2398b257cc3d352bace8e0e86779add67f4b381eb119dc72fdca04a12dc3aac5a0c456793380d80d
Download URL:

https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/93106/dot_93106_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 2.33 MB ]

File Language:

English

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