Unlocking project performance through integrated data

Integrated and synchronized data creates a real-time, comprehensive view of project performance, enhancing coordination, informing decisions and improving outcomes

By Eddie Garcia and Darin Welch | HNTB

Transportation agencies are delivering increasingly complex programs while managing a growing volume of data across design, construction and operations. From design models and schedules to cost tracking and field documentation, critical project information is often distributed across multiple systems, formats and teams.

This presents a growing opportunity to better connect that data. Integrated and synchronized data approaches can enable agencies to create a more comprehensive, real-time view of project performance, helping project delivery teams spot issues earlier, reduce time spent reconciling disconnected reports and improve coordination between design, construction and project controls. For leadership, it strengthens transparency and provides a more accurate record of project status as conditions change.

A real-time view of project performance

When project data is integrated across systems and disciplines, it creates a clearer and more dynamic understanding of how a project is performing throughout its lifecycle.

One of the most immediate benefits is real-time visibility into progress and cost. By connecting schedule and cost data directly to a spatial model, project teams can understand where work is occurring, how it is progressing and how it aligns with planned timelines and budgets. This creates a more intuitive and accessible view of performance, allowing stakeholders to quickly interpret current conditions and anticipated outcomes.

Integrated data also strengthens coordination across teams. When design, construction and project management disciplines operate within a shared environment, they are working from the same, up-to-date information. This shared visibility supports more aligned decision-making and reduces fragmentation across systems.

This provides agencies with greater visibility into construction sequencing and overall execution. Evaluating project phasing against real‑world conditions supports better validation of schedule logic and planned progress. It also helps identify sequencing conflicts, out‑of‑order activities, or misalignment with design intent that may not be readily apparent through traditional schedule reviews. Taken together, these capabilities give agencies a comprehensive, real-time view of project performance so project teams can validate sequencing and keep delivery on schedule, within budget and aligned with multi-discipline expectations.

Key practices to effectively integrate data

As agencies explore integrated data approaches, several practices can shape how these efforts are implemented and scaled:

One of the clearest expressions of successful data integration is 5D modeling, where information on design, schedule and cost data are brought together to provide a real-time view of project performance.

Case study: TxDOT’s application of integrated 5D data

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) offers a strong example of how integrated and synchronized data can be applied on a large, complex program. HNTB serves as the GEC on the I-35 Northeast Expansion (NEX) projects, supporting TxDOT as they implemented a 5D approach that connects design, schedule and cost data into a unified, web-based platform.

The solution integrates federated 3D models maintained in OpenRoads Designer (ORD) with schedule and cost data managed within TxDOT’s Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), all unified within a secure ArcGIS Online‑based application. This platform serves as a central hub for project information, enabling the Owner to visualize construction progress along the corridor while monitoring planned versus actual performance in a single, spatially enabled environment. Through this integrated environment, the project team gained a clear, real-time understanding of what is happening across the project and what is expected next. Color-coded visualizations illustrate schedule progress, while dashboards provide insight into cost performance, creating a comprehensive view that connects multiple dimensions of project data.

The data-integrated, 5D platform provided meaningful and ready-to-use data following construction completion to support future enterprise asset management and maintenance. During construction oversight, it improved day-to-day execution by giving the team a shared source for progress and performance conversations – helping reduce ambiguity around what’s complete, what’s next and where attention is needed. Leveraging this system, TxDOT has achieved improved accuracy and quality, enhanced collaboration and efficient decision making on the I-35 NEX project.

Advancing project delivery through connected data

As transportation agencies continue to modernize project delivery, the ability to connect and operationalize data will increasingly separate high-performing programs from the rest. Integrated data environments offer more than incremental improvement — they establish a new baseline for how projects are understood, managed and delivered.