Visualize and compare CPTs from the BRO in a web app

Basic Underground Registration

The Basic Underground Registration (BRO) is a database containing data about the soil in the Netherlands. The BRO was established by the government with the aim of collecting, storing, and making data available for use by governments, companies, and individuals in a standardized manner. This data relates to groundwater, geology, mining legislation, and geotechnics, and can be used, for example, in making building plans, managing groundwater levels, or mapping soil contamination.

There are several ways to access data from the BRO, such as through a web portal and various APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that allow users to retrieve and integrate data into their own applications. VIKTOR has developed a web app, including an open-source Python package, that allows geotechnical advisors and other specialists to easily retrieve, visualize, and compare CPTs from the BRO.

Location selection

Visualize and Compare

With the VIKTOR web app, geotechnical advisors and other specialists can easily select CPTs from the BRO on a map, visualize this data, and choose up to 10 CPTs for a comparison, including classification of soil structure, using the Robertson method. The results of this comparison can then be visualized in the app and downloaded locally as a .xml file.

Visualization of CPT classification

Open-Source Python Package

In addition to the web app, VIKTOR has also been working on the development of an open-source Python package for direct retrieval and integration of data from the BRO. With the package, VIKTOR aims to make it easy for geotechnical advisors with little or no API knowledge to use data from the BRO in their own apps.

Not only geotechnical advisors can benefit from using this package. GIS specialists can also use it in their work, for example, by using the package in QGIS (an open-source platform for GIS applications) to import CPTs.

Open-source package to access the REST API from the BRO

VIKTOR Community

Regarding open-source developments within the VIKTOR community, it will not be limited to the BRO package. "In the future, we want to develop many more open-source packages that can also be used without VIKTOR," said Stijn Jansen, CPO of VIKTOR.