SINC v6: preparing traceable road information before reporting
A guide to organise segments, location, inventory, condition, evidence and ownership before mapping road information to SINC v6.
Preparing information for SINC v6 requires organising the operational reality first: who administers each segment, how it is located, which assets were observed, when they were inspected and what evidence supports each attribute. Converting columns at the end cannot fix inconsistent segmentation or a missing observation date. Useful preparation builds traceability from each source to the dataset that will be reported.
The decision this guide supports
The SINC v6 methodology published by Colombia’s Ministry of Transport is the official current reference in the editorial register. It must be read together with the scope and responsibilities that apply to each entity. A corridor identified as a National Route may have different administration by segment, so the whole corridor must not automatically be attributed to either INVÍAS or ANI.
Bound the report by network, cutoff and responsible organisation before mapping fields. A road record must answer which section was observed, who administered it at that time, which method produced the value and on what date. Keep physical inventory, condition, traffic and interventions separate so a missing measurement is not turned into zero. Retain source units and document every derived calculation. For SINC v6, the correspondence matrix should identify the source field, transformation rule, target domain and review evidence, allowing a methodology change to be assessed without reconstructing the entire process from final files.
Recommended workflow
- Agree. Document jurisdiction and administration by segment before consolidating one linear layer.
- Structure. Define origin, direction, chainage or linear reference and rules for segmentation changes.
- Check. Separate road geometry, assets, condition and interventions into related entities.
- Document. Keep date, method, owner and evidence for every observation that may change.
- Operate. Map fields to the reporting structure and record transformations, gaps and exceptions.
Minimum controls before publishing or delivery
A useful review combines automated checks with expert judgement. At minimum, record:
- segments without unexplained overlap or gaps.
- dates attached to condition and inspection.
- consistent catalogues and units.
- lineage from source through transformation to output.
Limits that must remain visible
Structuring does not prove that the inventory is complete or that recorded condition remains current. A historical inspection retains documentary value, but it does not support an inference about present condition. A demonstration viewer must not be used to decide institutional jurisdiction either. Gaps, administration changes and segments with unequal evidence need to remain visible in both data and reporting.
To apply this method to a concrete project, review the GeoSAT sector service and compare its dependencies with the related service. These links serve different intents: this guide explains the process, while the service pages define scope, evidence and the appropriate commercial next step.