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Deep Dive into Connecting the 4M WFS URL to Your GIS Platform

After creating the 4M WFS URL, learn how to connect it to your GIS platform to automatically sync 4M data.

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Written by Nicole Heger
Updated over a week ago

After generating the WFS API key in 4M, you may add the URL to your GIS platform. See this support article to learn how.

Below are instructions for ArcGIS and FEMA.

ArcGIS Integration

In ArcGIS Online, users can import WFS data as a layer:

  • In the Layers navigation, click the down-facing carrot next to the Add Layers button, and select Add Layer from URL.

  • Paste the generated WFS URL that was created in 4M. Select OGC Web Feature Service (WFS) as the layer type.

Data Volume Limitation for ArcGIS

ArcGIS Online has a hard cap of 300,000 features per endpoint, broken down as:

  • Maximum of 10 queries, each fetching up to 30,000 elements.

This poses challenges for organizations with large datasets (e.g., millions of lines), potentially leading to partial data rendering.

Solution: For larger datasets, apply a Bounding Box (BBOX) parameter to filter by geography and reduce payload size.

Step-by-Step: Getting a Bounding Box for 4M’s Data

Step 1: Identify Your Area of Interest

Decide on the geographic area where your project(s) exist:

  • A specific city (e.g., Dallas)

  • A known project area
    A latitude/longitude range

Step 2: Use a Bounding Box Tool

Use a free online bounding box generator such as:

Example: Using BoundingBox.klokantech.com

  1. Open the tool.

  2. Zoom in or search for your area (e.g., “Dallas, TX”). Draw a box over your area of interest.

  3. Choose WGS84 as the coordinate system.

  • Copy the output in the format:
    -96.915,32.617,-96.638,32.985

  • Add coordinate system at the end of the coordinates, for example -96.915,32.617,-96.638,32.985,EPSG:4326

Step 3: Load in ArcGIS

  1. Open ArcGIS Online or Desktop.

  2. Choose “Add Layer from Web” (see detailed steps above)

  3. Select OGC Web Feature Service (WFS).

  4. Click on Add Custom Parameter

    1. Enter the parameter name as BBOX

    2. Paste the bounding box coordinates along with the coordinate system -96.915,32.617,-96.638,32.985,EPSG:4326

  5. Click Next and configure your layer.

  6. Choose Lines for utility lines or Points for on-surface points

Benefits of Bounding Box Filtering:

  • Ensures 100% accurate rendering of project-specific data.

  • Allows ArcGIS to load complete datasets for a focused area.

  • Enables advanced rendering and analysis without hitting data limits.

Once the WFS layer is loaded in ArcGIS:

  • You should see utility lines or points from 4M’s platform.

  • Apply symbology to distinguish data (e.g., by sector, material, age).

  • Ensure layer rendering is visible (adjust stroke width or colors if lines don’t show initially).

Watch the video to learn more:

FEMA Integration

Open FEMA’s Mapping Tool

Use any FEMA mapping tool that supports custom layers, such as:

Add WFS as a Layer

In FEMA’s ArcGIS-based tools:

  1. Click the “Add Data” button on the top left and then the “+ Click to add data” button.

  2. Navigate to the URL tab, and select::

  3. Make sure to Add the data to map using “Add to map”

Once the WFS layer is loaded:

  • You should see utility lines or points from 4M’s platform.
    Apply symbology to distinguish data (e.g., by sector, material, age).
    Ensure layer rendering is visible (adjust stroke width or colors if lines don’t show initially).

Combine with FEMA Hazard Data

Overlay 4M’s utility data with:

  • Flood zones

  • Wildfire risk

  • Seismic hazard models

  • Critical infrastructure (schools, hospitals, fire stations)

This enables multi-dimensional risk assessments (e.g., find utilities within flood zones near critical infrastructure.)

Watch the video to learn more:

Need access to the 4M WFS API? Reach out to your Customer Success Manager to get your organization set up.

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