The Value of Migrating Historic Boreholes into RSLog

Why is Centralizing Borehole Data Beneficial?

Having easy access to all your historic boreholes from previous projects can save you time and money in the long run. The cost of a subsurface investigation is typically a function of the number of boreholes required. If you’re preparing a proposal for a large project, having historical borehole data accessible will put you in a better position for a more cost-effective, optimized site investigation. Knowing that you have good quality data within the close vicinity of – and sometimes even within the proposed project, gives you the advantage of reducing the number of proposed boreholes as you have a better understanding of the subsurface conditions from your previous projects.

For many users, commercial software available in the geotechnical / environmental market offer an individual database for each project. Therefore, creating a central database and GIS map containing all your projects is a challenging task. This is where RSLog can help.

Switching to RSLog

For most users, switching to RSLog is straightforward: create an account, design and customize your log templates and start generating borehole logs. In addition to generating borehole logs and creating cross-sections and other types of reports, RSLog is designed to help migrate your historic boreholes; meaning all your current and historic boreholes are stored in one database.

The following options are available in RSLog for migrating your historic boreholes:

1) Importing Locations Only

This option is used for importing the locations of boreholes and projects into RSLog. The imported dataset will be automatically added to your RSLog GIS map. This is mostly suitable for consultants who have a summary of their projects or boreholes in some type of database, Excel, or Google Earth files and do not see a need for a complete borehole data migration.

RSLog offers the following features for importing the locations of your data:

• Importing CSV List of Historic Projects (project coordinates in latitude & longitude, or civic address)
• Importing CSV List of Historic Boreholes (borehole coordinates in latitude & longitude)
• Importing Google Earth KML or KMZ File (data points saved as Placemark tags)

2) Importing Detailed Data from a Database

In this case, project and borehole data including field tests, lab test results, stratigraphy, etc. can be extracted from a database file and stored in your RSLog database. If the projects / boreholes include valid coordinates, they will be shown on the GIS map as soon as migration is completed. The following database formats are supported for import:

• gINT: RSLog has a powerful gINT import feature that allows you to map the data structure of your gINT file to RSLog’s data structure.
• DIGGS: RSLog supports DIGGS import and we are currently working on expanding our support of DIGGS format.
• Excel: RSLog has its own Excel templates for data entry. Any data saved in this format can be easily imported into RSLog.
• AGS: RSLog supports AGS soil classification and hatch patterns. Our team is working on a new AGS feature that will make import, edit and export of AGS data much easier than before.
• Wincore: Created by the Texas Department of Transportation, this software is widely used in the state of Texas by geotechnical consultants. RSLog has a simple tool for direct import of borehole data from Wincore CLG files (including batch import).
• JSON: RSLog has its own proprietary JSON format for exporting borehole data. RSLog supports import from this JSON format, and therefore, if your borehole data is in a format that is not directly supported by RSLog, you can export your data into this JSON format, then import it to RSLog.
• Other Databases: If your boreholes are stored in other database management systems such as Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle, please contact us for a customized solution.

3) Importing Historic Paper Logs using OCR

The upcoming RSLog feature for Optical Character Recognition (OCR) utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) to turn the PDF copies of your old borehole logs directly into valuable borehole data and add them to your RSLog database. This functionality will be available in RSLog in the upcoming few months.

Data Exchange Features

In addition to migrating your boreholes, RSLog supports the following import and export features:

• Log Template Design: RSLog users can share log template designs. This is specifically useful when a Department of Transportation (DOT) would like to share their borehole log templates with other consultants.
• Data Transfer: RSLog has a built-in feature that allows a seamless project data transfer between DOT’s and their consultants.
• Cross-Section Outputs: please visit this page for details.
• CSV: All tables in RSLog import from CSV files and export to CSV and Excel formats.

Public Borehole Data (US)

RSLog’s GIS map includes the locations of over 200,000 public boreholes (data provided by Geosetta). This database will continue to grow as more DOT’s contribute to the database of public borehole data.

Field Data Collection Made Easy

If you are looking for efficient data entry during a subsurface investigation, you can use RSLog’s OnSite app. This app is installed on iOS and Android devices and works both online and offline. OnSite offers a seamless data collaboration between field engineers, real-time data sharing with office engineers, and provides easy project tracking features.

We are here to help!

Each consulting firm has different standards for borehole data collection and varying templates for their borehole logs. Therefore, before starting the migration of your borehole data to RSLog, we recommend reviewing the format and structure of your borehole data. Please feel free to contact us to set up a meeting with the RSLog team to discuss your borehole data and determine the best options for data migration.