I have been examining the various utility network solutions provided by Esri because our university campus is responsible for most of its utilities—water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, irrigation, electricity from the substation, telecommunications, including fiber, etc. When I first started examining the utility network, I was pleased that there were structure feature classes that allowed these features to be used across utility domains because we have many structures that are multi-use. For example, a manhole may contain multiple utilities—it may contain a system valve for the water system, a control valve for the irrigation system, a fiber tube distribution unit, an electrical line, etc.
However, as I have dug into multiple models, I am not so sure how this works. Consider a manhole.
In the water distribution model, a manhole is found in the Structure Junction feature class>Assetgroup(subtype) 6 (Pipe Vault) for which the options are:
Asset_Type_Structure_Junction_Pipeline_Vault
- 0 Unknown
- 201 Vault
- 202 Air Release
- 203 Manhole
In the Communications model, a manhole is found in the Structure Junction feature class>Assetgroup (subtype) 6 (Pipe Vault) for which the options are:
Asset_Type_Structure_Junction_Wire_Vault_Access
In the Electric model, manhole is found in the Structure Junction feature class>Assetgroup (subtype) 105 (Manhole) for which the options are:
Asset_Type_Structure_Junction_Electric_Manhole
I feel like there is something missing in my understanding. How do you make this work with multiple utility domains in one utility network? How would you model a manhole that has water, telecom and electric in it?
