Approach
The drawing is the source. Everything else follows from it.
How as-built drawings become an asset data set for maintenance, renewal and overhead line planning, what comes out of it, where the limits are and how it is charged.
Why this works
The drawing knows more than it shows.
An overhead line drawing is not a picture. It is drawn to scale, it carries pole stamps with type, length, foundation and tip load, it knows nominal heights, deflection angles and assembly numbers. The information is there – it is simply not stored in machine-readable form.
What matters is that every operator has its own conventions: different layer names, different blocks, different abbreviations in the pole stamp, different standards. Those conventions are therefore interpreted once and recorded in an operator profile. After that, every further drawing of the same origin runs through the same way.
What the profile holds:
- Layers and blocks by role – contact wire, structure, feeder, support, insulation
- Structure of the pole stamp and of the support annotations
- Nominal heights, permissible stagger, span lengths and deflection angles
- The operator's pole, foundation and component catalogues
- Limit values of the check rules, each with its source in the rulebook
Approach
Six steps – and what they deliver.
Interpret the drawing set
The operator's conventions are read and verified against its standards. The result is an operator profile – once per drawing convention.
Extract the data set
Supports, structures, wires, cables, attachments and components are read with their attributes and linked into one connected network.
Cross-calculate
Heights, lengths, angles, forces and topology are checked against each other and against the rulebook. Contradictions become findings, gaps become declared assumptions.
Model and documents
3D component model, cable analysis, installation sequence, profiles, registers, bills of quantities and IFC are produced together from the same state.
Portal
Everything is published on a protected project page – with feedback per entry and a permanent address for every support.
Keep current
After a rebuild or a correction the data set is adjusted and everything regenerated. The record does not age in separate files.
Limits
What follows from a drawing – and what does not.
A model derived from a drawing is as accurate as the drawing. That is not a limitation to be glossed over – it is the statement without which the result would not be usable.
Every object therefore carries its origin: read from the drawing, derived from the rulebook, or assumed. Where the drawing is silent or contradicts itself, that appears in the report – instead of disappearing behind a model that looks complete.
What a drawing cannot give:
- Absolute heights where none are annotated – there the operator's nominal height applies, and the data set says so
- The condition of a component – a drawing shows the installation, not its wear
- Changes that were never recorded – they appear as a contradiction, not as fact
- Hidden components that carry no symbol in the drawing
Handover
Open formats, no lock-in.
The data belongs to the operator. It can be carried forward without LYNTRX – that is a condition, not a concession.
IFC 4.3
Components with properties and materials, classes aligned with the industry catalogue, georeferenced in the Swiss national system.
3D DWG
The model as solids with properties, ready to use directly in Civil 3D or AutoCAD.
Tables
Asset register, support list, bills of quantities, material list, findings and analysis results as XLSX and CSV.
PDF documents
Project report, cable analysis per structure, installation sequence, cross and longitudinal profiles, drawing sheets with title block.
Google Earth (KMZ)
The installation including buildings for a quick look at the situation – no CAD, on any computer.
Project portal
All documents online, protected, hosted in Switzerland. See LYNTRX360.
Scope and price
Per kilometre, all inclusive.
Charging is per kilometre of overhead line, all inclusive: asset data set, 3D model, cable analysis, checks, installation sequence, profiles, bills of quantities and documents.
Interpreting the drawing set is charged once per operator, not per drawing. Further sections of the same network run the same way and are therefore considerably cheaper than the first.
Where drawings exist only as PDFs, scans or hand drawings, preparing them as CAD drawings is quoted separately.
To get started:
- One to two kilometres as a reference section are enough
- What is needed: the drawings as a CAD file and the operator's standards
- No survey or site walk required
- The result sits on a protected portal and is reviewed together
Frequently asked
What usually gets asked first.
Does this also apply to overhead contact lines outside Switzerland?
Yes. What counts is the operator's rulebook – EN 50119 as the common basis, plus national and operator-specific requirements. For tram and trolleybus alike.
What do you need from the operator?
The drawings of the section as a CAD file and the operator's standards – pole and foundation tables, nominal heights, assembly documentation. One to two kilometres are enough. No survey or site walk is required to start.
How accurate is a model derived from a drawing?
As accurate as the drawing. Every object carries its origin: read from the drawing, derived from the rulebook, or assumed. Where values are missing or contradictory, that appears as a finding in the report.
Does this work for trolleybus as well?
Yes. The difference lies in the overhead line system – two contact wires instead of one, different nominal heights, different components – and is handled through the operator profile. The process itself stays the same.
What if our drawings are older or inconsistent?
That is the normal case, and precisely why the drawing set is interpreted once. Inconsistent stock produces more findings and more declared assumptions – both visible and traceable, not hidden.
What if we only have PDFs, scans or hand drawings?
We can still work with them. The drawings are first georeferenced and prepared as CAD drawings with a layer structure – we take on this step on request; it is quoted separately and not charged via the per-kilometre price. They then go through the same checks as any other drawing – anything that cannot be read unambiguously appears as a finding or a declared assumption.
Who owns the data?
The client – usually the transport operator. Handover is in open formats – IFC 4.3, DWG, XLSX, CSV, PDF, KMZ. No licence is needed to continue working with it.
Where is the portal data stored?
With a Swiss hosting provider, in a protected area per operator. The operator issues the accounts itself.
From drawing set to asset record – let's talk about your section.
We look at your drawings and tell you what can be gained from them – and what cannot.