This deliverable is not counted toward your grade
Project Start and Technical Implementation (site, data and investigation) pages are required practice but are not counted toward your final grade. Your engineering grade comes from Chapter 4 and Chapter 5.
Data Inventory
Students compile a catalogued inventory of all existing data sources with age, format, and reliability assessed for each.
Section progress
0% of the workflow complete
Field & Laboratory · Plan, execute and document field and laboratory data collection to a defensible quality standard.
Deliverable: Data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis.
How to complete this section
Do this next: Read the Data Inventory lecture and the worked example so you know what "Data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis." has to contain.
Not sure how to start or how much depth is expected? Read the fully written model example for this deliverable first — it shows the structure, tables and level of justification your advisor grades against.
Site Investigation Lab — what this workspace teaches
Plan, execute and document field and laboratory data collection to a defensible quality standard.
- Planning a subsurface, structural or traffic field investigation
- Instrumentation selection, resolution, accuracy and calibration records
- GPS/GNSS positioning: datums, projections, RTK vs. handheld accuracy
- GIS data capture, attribute schemas and coordinate metadata
- Land surveying: traverses, levelling, closure and error adjustment
- Sampling strategy: representative sampling, spacing, depth intervals, replicates
- ASTM/AASHTO laboratory testing procedures and reporting requirements
- Chain of custody, sample labelling and preservation
- QA/QC: duplicates, blanks, repeatability and data validation rules
End-of-term milestones
- Tuesday, November 17, 2026 — Poster printed and ready. 36 in × 48 in poster finalized and printed one week before the November 24 showcase.
- Wednesday, November 18, 2026 — Final document package uploaded for scoring. Chapters 4–5, calculation package, drawings and appendices uploaded in the app for advisor scoring.
- Wednesday, November 18, 2026 — Poster presentation to faculty and industry. Wednesday poster session — printed 36 in × 48 in poster presented in person; industry reviewers score communication and impact.
- Wednesday, November 25, 2026 — Oral presentation and defense (scored). Scored oral presentation and defense held on Wednesday, November 25.
Data Inventory
Students compile a catalogued inventory of all existing data sources with age, format, and reliability assessed for each.
Section B
Engineering story
A real project situation that frames this module
A civil engineering practice team hits data inventory in week 2, with the project record already promised to the owner. Students compile a catalogued inventory of all existing data sources with age, format, and reliability assessed for each. The reviewer starts at the end and works backwards, and the chain breaks at records search hierarchy.
Inventorying a record without confirming which horizontal or vertical datum it uses. Because data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known disturbance, the error does not stay local: it is carried into the data foundation every later calculation silently depends on, and every downstream product inherits it before anyone notices.
The owner, the reviewing agency and the engineer of record carry the consequence. On this module specifically, the exposure runs through metadata capture, and the cost of correction rises every week the project record moves closer to issue.
Decisions the engineer must make
- What record establishes records search hierarchy, and is that record in the project data inventory?
- Does ASTM E1527 (2021), Sec. 8, govern here — and is that the edition adopted by the jurisdiction?
- What is the acceptance criterion for data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known disturbance, and was it written before the result was known?
- Is the documented procedure valid for the conditions this project actually presents?
- If the check fails, does the team revise the project record or raise a change request against the locked baseline?
Photo 1. Field review: the conversation in which a scope, a constraint or a decision is actually settled.
Capstone Studio instructional photograph
Section C
Why this matters
Professional
A licensed engineer defending data inventory cites ASTM E1527 (2021), Sec. 8, and shows the record behind each input. Your data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis. is reviewed the same way — traceability is assessed before arithmetic.
Technical
Records search hierarchy controls the numbers this module hands forward. Data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known disturbance determines whether those numbers remain valid once conditions change.
Safety
The failure mode this module guards against is a decision made without a traceable basis. It reaches people through gap analysis between inventoried data and the data-needs matrix from the investigation overview, which is why the safety check is recorded explicitly here rather than inferred from a passing strength or performance check.
Economic
The data foundation every later calculation silently depends on is priced from this work. Quantities, unit costs and schedule float all trace to records search hierarchy; a late correction here is paid for as a change order, not a redline.
Environmental
Environmentally, this module fixes material use, land disturbance and the waste stream generated by rework. Choosing conservatively without justification is not free — the excess shows up as material, energy and land that the project consumes for no measurable gain.
Community
The residents and agencies who inherit the completed work inherit whatever this module decides — performance, accessibility, cost of ownership and resilience are set here, not at the ribbon-cutting.
Section D
Learning objectives
By the end of this module you will be able to:
- 1.Apply records search hierarchy, using this project's own conditions rather than a textbook case.
- 2.Analyze data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known disturbance, using this project's own conditions rather than a textbook case.
- 3.Analyze metadata capture, using this project's own conditions rather than a textbook case.
- 4.Explain gap analysis between inventoried data and the data-needs matrix from the investigation overview, using this project's own conditions rather than a textbook case.
- 5.Apply ASTM E1527 (2021), Sec. 8, and cite the section that governs your acceptance decision.
- 6.Produce data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis. at a standard the advisor of record would accept without a second revision cycle.
Section E
Instructional content
Full lecture notes with figures and governing equations
Data Inventory: from proposal statement to engineering product
Students compile a catalogued inventory of all existing data sources with age, format, and reliability assessed for each. That single sentence hides the substance of the module: records search hierarchy, and data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known disturbance. Both must be established from project evidence before anything downstream is credible.
In civil engineering practice, this work is the input to the project record. Metadata capture — which is why this page asks you to record the source of every quantity, not just its value. The data foundation every later calculation silently depends on depends on it.
- Records search hierarchy: agency archives, utility owner records, prior geotechnical reports, aerial imagery
- Data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known disturbance
- Metadata capture: source, date, coordinate datum, vertical datum, accuracy statement
- Gap analysis between inventoried data and the data-needs matrix from the investigation overview
Photo 1. Data Inventory: from proposal statement to engineering product in practice — Field review: the conversation in which a scope, a constraint or a decision is actually settled.
Capstone Studio instructional photograph
Decision logic: the procedure that replaces a closed-form solution
Data Inventory is governed by a documented procedure rather than a single expression, so the decision logic is the deliverable: what you accept, what you reject, and on what evidence. Records search hierarchy.
Write the acceptance criterion before you look at the result. Data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known disturbance — recording the criterion afterwards lets it be shaped to fit the number you happened to get.
Photo 2. Decision logic: the procedure that replaces a closed-form solution in practice — Field review: the conversation in which a scope, a constraint or a decision is actually settled.
Capstone Studio instructional photograph
Constraints, adopted standards and the safety case for data inventory
ASTM E1527 (2021), Sec. 8, governs this module: Records review requirements applicable to environmental data inventory USACE EM 1110-1-1804 (2001), Ch. 2, adds the second constraint: Guidance on geotechnical records review procedures
The safety case is explicit here. The failure mode is a decision made without a traceable basis; the people exposed are the owner, the reviewing agency and the engineer of record; the control that prevents it is gap analysis between inventoried data and the data-needs matrix from the investigation overview together with an independent check by someone who did not perform the work.
- Controlling criterion for this module: records search hierarchy.
- Adopted reference: ASTM E1527 (2021) — cite Sec. 8 by number.
- Failure mode guarded: a decision made without a traceable basis.
- Evidence produced: Data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis..
Photo 3. Constraints, adopted standards and the safety case for data inventory in practice — Subsurface investigation: SPT samples and the boring log that every geotechnical number traces back to.
Capstone Studio instructional photograph
Where this method stops being valid
Every method has a domain of validity. State the range of geometry, loading, material behaviour or flow regime over which your approach holds, and state what you would do instead beyond it.
For this project, the boundary you are most likely to push is gap analysis between inventoried data and the data-needs matrix from the investigation overview. If you cross it, say so in writing, bound the error, and carry the limitation into your results chapter. A disclosed limitation is professional practice; a silent extrapolation is not.
Photo 4. Where this method stops being valid in practice — Compression test on a concrete cylinder: the measurement behind every f′c used in design.
Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Section F
Engineering workflow
Steps
- 1. Assemble the inputs this module needs — records search hierarchy; data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's… — each with a unit and a source record.
- 2. Confirm ASTM E1527 (2021) is the adopted edition and locate Sec. 8.
- 3. State the assumptions and the acceptance criterion for records search hierarchy.
- 4. Execute the documented procedure, recording each judgement and the evidence behind it.
- 5. Test the result against metadata capture.
- 6. Audit units and run an order-of-magnitude check by hand before the number leaves your desk.
- 7. Obtain an independent check from a teammate who did not perform the work, and record their name and date.
- 8. Assemble data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis. and submit it to the advisor of record for review.
Decision points
- Is every input behind records search hierarchy traceable? If not — stop and collect the record.
- Does the result satisfy data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known disturbance? If not — revise the work, never the criterion.
- Would the correction change the data foundation every later calculation silently depends on? If yes — raise a change-control request before proceeding.
- Have you ruled out the most common error on this module — inventorying a record without confirming which horizontal or vertical datum it uses?
Quality checklist
- Documented: records search hierarchy
- Documented: data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known…
- Documented: metadata capture
- ASTM E1527 Sec. 8 cited by section number
- Procedure steps recorded in order with evidence
- Acceptance criterion recorded before the result
- Independent check signed and dated
- Data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis. attached and named per the course convention
Section H
Interactive visualization
Data Inventory — step-through
Advance one frame at a time. Each frame adds one engineering decision to the previous state.
Step 1 of 6
Search agency, utility, and prior consultant archives for the project site.
Section I
Applicable codes and standards
ASTM E1527
2021 · Sec. 8
Adopted design/analysis reference governing this module.
Relevance: Records review requirements applicable to environmental data inventory
Reference the section number and edition in your calculation package. Do not reproduce code text.
USACE EM 1110-1-1804
2001 · Ch. 2
Adopted design/analysis reference governing this module.
Relevance: Guidance on geotechnical records review procedures
Reference the section number and edition in your calculation package. Do not reproduce code text.
Section J
Worked examples
Full engineering solution format
Section K
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Inventorying a record without confirming which horizontal or vertical datum it uses.
- Treating an undated aerial photo as current without independent verification.
- Treating records search hierarchy as a given instead of establishing it from a project record.
- Producing data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis. without showing how data currency assessment — flagging records older than the site's last known… was satisfied.
- Recording the outcome of this module without recording the judgement and evidence that produced it.
- Missing gap analysis between inventoried data and the data-needs matrix from the investigation overview, which is exactly the path to a decision made without a traceable basis.
- Collecting data before defining what decision the data has to support.
- Accepting a laboratory or field value without its method, date, operator and uncertainty.
- Citing the wrong edition of a standard, or citing a standard that does not govern the jurisdiction.
- Leaving boundary conditions undefined so the model is not reproducible by an independent checker.
- Using inputs that no field record, laboratory report, or published source supports.
Section L
Industry case study
Documented failure related to data inventory
A constructed civil works project where this module's decision was made incorrectly or skipped.
Official findings
- Published investigation identified a breakdown between analysis assumption and constructed condition.
Field observations
- The controlling assumption was documented nowhere in the design record.
- No independent check existed at the stage where the error entered the work.
Engineering interpretation
- Interpretation below is student analysis for instructional purposes, not an official finding.
- Map the failure to a step in your own workflow and state where your process would have caught it.
Lessons learned
- Document the assumption, then have someone else check it before it becomes construction.
Source: Summarize the published investigation; cite it in your reference list. Do not reproduce copyrighted report text.
Section M
FE Civil exam connection
Handbook FE Reference Handbook — civil engineering practice section (record the section number from your handbook edition).
Exam topics
Handbook formulas
Weak results here feed your FE Civil Academy weak-area queue for targeted practice.
Question 1 of 2
Score: 0/2In data inventory, which item must be established BEFORE the analysis is run?
Section N
Apply it to your project — Data Inventory
Complete this using your own capstone project data. Every field is saved to your project record and routed to your advisor with this module's submission.
Inputs and sources
Every value needs a traceable source.
| Quantity | Value | Unit | Source / record |
|---|
Assumptions and consequences
| Assumption | Basis | Consequence if wrong |
|---|
Self-check before submission
Section O
Design challenge
Consulting challenge — Data Inventory
Your firm has been retained to deliver the data inventory scope for a municipal client on a compressed schedule. Produce the technical position your firm would defend at a public meeting.
Client request: The client wants a defensible recommendation, the basis of design, and an honest statement of what remains unresolved.
Constraints
- Adopted local code edition governs; no exceptions without written variance.
- Budget and schedule are fixed; scope changes require change control.
- Public safety and accessibility requirements are non-negotiable.
Deliverables
- One-page basis of design
- Supporting calculation extract
- Risk and limitation statement
Evaluation
- Technical correctness
- Standard compliance
- Clarity of engineering judgment
- Honest treatment of uncertainty
Section P
Documentation workspace
Write the report section for this module in the academic editor
Section Q
File uploads
Accepted: PDF, DOCX, XLSX, CSV, PNG, JPG, ZIP, SHP
No files uploaded yet.
Section R
Deliverable and advisor review
Data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis.
Submissions route to your assigned faculty advisor and are scored independently by faculty and administrator rubrics.
Reflection
What was the hardest engineering judgment in this module, and how did you resolve it?
Section S
ABET outcome mapping
Data inventory spreadsheet with metadata and gap analysis. with advisor review and dual scoring.
Assessment: Faculty rubric score and administrator rubric score on this module's submission.
Rubric: Data quality · Target: 70% of students at or above 'meets expectations'.
Section T
References and further study
ASTM E1527 (2021)
Adopted reference — cite section numbers, do not reproduce text.
USACE EM 1110-1-1804 (2001)
Adopted reference — cite section numbers, do not reproduce text.
Data Inventory — instructor design procedure
Course template for the calculation package format expected in the final report appendix.
NCEES FE Reference Handbook
Locate the equations used here and note the handbook section for exam recall.
Advisor meeting agenda item
Bring the unresolved decision from this module to your next weekly advisor meeting.