Semantic-Driven Automation of BIM for Stone-Paved Roads: An Ontology-VPL Integrated Approach

Mattia Intignano; Salvatore Antonio Biancardo; Sara Guerra de Oliveira; Andrej Tibaut; Gianluca Dell'Acqua

doi:10.47852/bonviewJCCE52025931

Authors

Mattia Intignano Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Federico II University of Naples, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4706-2893
Salvatore Antonio Biancardo Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Federico II University of Naples, Italy https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2567-7977
Sara Guerra de Oliveira Faculty of Civil Engineering Transportation Engineering and Architecture, University of Maribor, Slovenia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1822-1149
Andrej Tibaut Faculty of Civil Engineering Transportation Engineering and Architecture, University of Maribor, Slovenia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1706-5981
Gianluca Dell'Acqua Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Federico II University of Naples, Italy

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewJCCE52025931

Keywords:

BIM, visual programming language, ontology, Civil 3D, Dynamo, SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language

Abstract

The integration of semantic technologies and procedural automation is redefining how infrastructure assets are modeled and managed. Yet, stone-paved roads, common in historical urban centers, remain largely unsupported by existing building information modeling (BIM) standards and tools. This paper presents an innovative, fully automated workflow that bridges this gap by combining a visual programming language (VPL) approach with an ontology-driven semantic framework. Compared to the traditional manual modeling workflow in the BIM-Authoring software Autodesk Civil 3D, which may take several hours, the proposed method generates a complete 3D BIM model by fully automating several modeling operations via a Dynamo graph that takes very short computational times. To achieve this, we developed a parametric modeling pipeline that, based on structured input data, can rapidly generate high-fidelity 3D models of stone-paved roads. To overcome semantic limitations in the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) schema, we introduce the IFC for stone-paved roads (IFC-SPRO) ontology, designed to enrich geometric models with machine-readable knowledge about modular pavement typologies and maintenance strategies. By converting IFC data into resource description framework (RDF) format and querying it via SPARQL and AI-driven interfaces, the model supports advanced information retrieval for asset management and heritage conservation. The proposed approach not only enhances interoperability and reduces modeling time dramatically but also establishes a scalable foundation for integrating historical road infrastructure into modern digital workflows.

Received: 14 April 2025 | Revised: 10 September 2025 | Accepted: 25 September 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author Contribution Statement

Mattia Intignano: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Resources, Writing – original draft,Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Salvatore Antonio Biancardo: Conceptualization, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Sara Guerra de Oliveira: Conceptualization, Validation, Resources, Writing – review & editing,Visualization. Andrej Tibaut: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Resources, Data curation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision. Gianluca Dell'Acqua: Conceptualization, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration.