Scanning a Palace

Issue 2009-3
A Publication for Surveying and Mapping Professionals
Scanning a Palace
Drilling in the Desert
Landslide!
Meeting TÜV Compliance
In the Wake of a Hurricane
Welcome to the latest issue of
Technology&more!
INSIDE:
Dear Readers,
We continue to be impressed with the unique and exciting projects our customers are
involved in throughout the world today. Each of these projects—and many
others—demonstrates the maximum efficiency and productivity gained through
the use of Trimble® technology. In this Technology&more issue you’ll read
about some of them: a scanning project that helps prepare a historic German
palace for restoration; a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) infrastructure
network in the New Orleans area that made recovery from and ongoing work
after the Katrina hurricane more efficient; a mobile mapping survey in Belgium
using cutting-edge technology; a hydrographic survey in California’s Napa Valley;
and a collaborative research project in Brazil by
Universities in Scotland, Brazil and the U.S. that
is bringing a greater understanding of seismic
activity in the region.
In addition you’ll read about the advantages that
Trimble Assistant can bring to field crews and
support technicians. The new solution allows the
technician to see—and even control—exactly
what is happening in the field, decreasing
or eliminating downtime and extra return trips
to the office. This issue also highlights how to
integrate the use of digital images in field work
through Trimble Business Center or Trimble
Access™ software.
The next Trimble Dimensions International
User Conference will be held November 8–10,
2010 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada,
U.S. Since the first conference was held in 2005, Trimble Dimensions has been a
respected and popular worldwide venue for surveying, engineering, construction,
mapping, GIS, geospatial and mobile resource management professionals to advance their understanding of today’s positioning technology. Along with keynote
presentations by industry visionaries, attendees participate in hands-on product
training; attend technical breakout sessions on applying technology to real-world
problems; hear from Trimble users focusing on the practical use of technology;
and network with worldwide peers to share best practices. Don’t miss Trimble
Dimensions 2010!
Benin
Pg. 5
Austria
Pg. 8
Chris Gibson: Vice President,
Survey Division
Brazil
Pg. 11
U.S.
Pg. 20
And finally, if you have an innovative project you’d like to share, we’d like to hear
about it: just email Survey_Stories@trimble.com. We’ll even write the article for you!
We hope you enjoy reading this issue of Technology&more.
Chris Gibson
Published by:
Trimble Engineering
& Construction
5475 Kellenburger Rd.
Dayton, OH, 45424-1099
Phone: 1-937-233-8921
Fax: 1-937-245-5145
Email: T&M_info@trimble.com
www.trimble.com
Editor-in-Chief: Omar Soubra
Editorial Team: Angie Vlasaty,
Lea Ann McNabb; Heather Silvestri;
Eric Harris; Susanne Preiser;
Emmanuelle Tarquis; Grainne Woods;
Christiane Gagel; Lin Lin Ho; Bai Lu;
Echo Wei; Maribel Aguinaldo; Masako
Hirayama; Stephanie Kirtland, Survey
Technical Marketing Team
Visual Designer: Tom Pipinou
© 2009, Trimble Navigation Limited. All rights reserved.
Trimble, the Globe & Triangle logo, Applanix, GeoExplorer, NetRS,
Pathfinder, Terramodel and TSC2 are trademarks of Trimble
Navigation Limited or its subsidiaries, registered in United States
Patent and Trademark Office. Access, AccessSync, Connected Site,
Geomatics Office, GeoXH, GeoXT, GPSNet, H-Star, Juno, NetR5,
POS LV, PointScape, RealWorks Survey, RTKNet, Survey Controller,
Trident-3D, VRS, VX, Zephyr Geodetic are trademarks of Trimble
Navigation Limited or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
Surveying Underground
T
he survey job in Mining International’s limestone
quarry in Joliet, Illinois, was simple in theory—it was
just a topographic survey of a mostly straight tunnel.
But V3 Companies, an Illinois-based consulting firm, found
that in practice working underground presented plenty of
challenges including absolute darkness, transport issues,
working on high platforms and establishing control in a
highly variable environment.
The tunnel in question is 488 m (1,600 ft) long and outsized
by most standards—about 7 m (25 ft) high and 6 m (20 ft)
wide. When originally built, it was used by enormous dump
trucks to carry rock to the surface. As the mine expanded,
it made more sense to build a crushing plant and get the
crushed rock to the surface by means of a conveyor belt. But
truck traffic would have to continue, so operators decided
to hang the conveyor from the tunnel ceiling. To minimize
disruptions, conveyor designers needed profiles of the tunnel’s gently undulating ceiling: this would let them build the
system offsite, in sections, and simply bolt it in place. V3 was
also hired to lay out the bolt holes.
Taking advantage of Trimble’s Connected Site™ solutions, V3
established surface control with a Trimble R8 GNSS Receiver
linked to the Precision Midwest Real Time Network (RTN)
using Trimble VRS™ technology. They then used the same
Trimble TSC2® Controller using Trimble Survey Controller™
Software with both the GNSS receiver and their Trimble
VX™ Spatial Station to extend control into the tunnel. Heavy
truck traffic and daily road grading ruled out control set in
the tunnel floor, so instead V3 set threaded rods into tunnel walls, and screwed prisms on as needed. “The prism’s
focal point became our control point,” explains V3’s Survey
Technology Manager Grant Van Bortel. The in-wall control
points were used for resections and scan registration points.
A Trimble GX 3D Scanner, controlled by a laptop and
Trimble PointScape™ Software, was used for most of the
scanning and was aligned to the control net with survey
workflow methodology. The Trimble VX was used for a
few tight spots, and all scans were assembled into the same
point cloud. Since scan intervals were set to 15 cm (0.5 ft)—
“we were scanning rock, after all,” says Van Bortel—file
sizes were relatively small, just 45 megabytes for the
point cloud.
Setting out bolt holes in the tunnel ceiling required a boom
truck and a reversed prism. “We fashioned an inverted
rod,” explains Van Bortel. “We flipped the bubble over and
replumbed the rod, then strapped a flashlight on the rod so
we could see the bubble.” Using the reversed rod, crews laid
out bolt holes immediately ahead of drilling crews.
The mine’s diesel-only policy meant that generators
couldn’t be used to power the scanners. Instead, V3 rented a
diesel truck to haul around batteries; the truck’s lights were
also useful underground.
In retrospect, Van Bortel says that the actual scanning was
as simple as theory predicted…but getting ready to scan
was a different story.
See feature article in American Surveyor's February issue:
www.amerisurv.com
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Technology&more; 2009-3
Cover Story
A Royal Project
Spatial Station Helps Preserve an Ancient Palace
T
oday’s 3D scanning is a great tool for historical preservation, but it’s not always accessible for projects
(difficult implementation, limited budgets, technology unknown by archaeologists, etc). Instead,
archaeologists may still use traditional theodolites (at best), or (at least) only paper, tape measure and
crude charcoal copying methods. Used in this project to help prepare an historic palace in southwest Germany
for restoration, the Trimble VX Spatial Station offers a powerful alternative to 3D scanning: surveying techniques
are already known by archaeologists and the new technology provides both 3D scanning and imaging data.
The entrance to the inner courtyard of the palace.
Located in the heart of the medieval quarter of town, the Ettlingen castle dates to 1192 when the town received its
charter. Used today as Ettlingen’s cultural center and as a venue for concerts, exhibitions and a museum, in 2008
the castle was selected by the town council to be restored. Prior to restoration, the council wanted to analyze the
condition of the halls, with special emphasis on the deformation of the floor in Asam Hall, the palace’s “crown
jewel” (see sidebar). They asked for a model of the sites and their façades to be prepared from measured data
and sectional plans, with all data integrated into a public fixed-point grid. The project was ideal as a thesis for
a student surveyor.
Uwe Künzel, an Ettlingen counsellor and surveyor who had contacts at the Geomatics Faculty at Karlsruhe University
of Applied Sciences, proposed the project to university professors and students both as a learning tool and as a way
to demonstrate the capabilities of the Trimble VX Spatial Station. University student Lorenzo Campana was
Technology&more; 2009-3
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Special Features of the Palace
The crown jewel of the palace is Asam Hall, the former palace chapel created in 1732 by the great maestro of late
baroque design, Cosmas Damian Asam. It features an imposing fresco illustrating the life and martyrdom of St John
Nepomuk, the Bohemian saint. The hall is on the first floor of the palace and has two levels: a lower level with a raised
stage and a second level housing a curved gallery with an open-work stone balustrade winding around the hall. The
gallery is supported by eight double pillars. While much of the hall (and ceiling) was restored approximately 25 years
ago, the floor has surface irregularities of up to 8 cm (3 in), which are visible to the naked eye. An earlier survey of the
hall showed that the first level is unable to bear sufficient weight and reverberates when even one person walks on it.
Underneath Asam Hall, on the ground floor, is the Hall of the Muses. Both halls are about 13 m (43 ft) wide and 16 m
(53 ft) long and have parquet floors. The Hall of the Muses has two ceiling joists across the width and two lengthways.
Only two ceiling joists are load-bearing; the others are only for aestetics.
fascinated with the proposal and assumed the task of measuring, which could have been challenging because he
was not familiar with Trimble’s instrument or software. But both the interface of Trimble RealWorks Survey™ Software and the instrument’s video capability are user-friendly and he quickly learned how to operate the equipment.
Campana recorded 8 hours a day for 6.5 days to complete his thesis. The Spatial Station recorded four positions
for the external façade, nine positions for Asam Hall and five for the Hall of the Muses. Individual points were
recorded for contours, while the built-in scanner captured uneven and curved objects. Panorama photos were
also taken.
The Spatial Station combined the measurements of individual points with geometrically allocated digital images
to provide an exact interpretation of the measuring points used to visualize the object. The digital images were
projected onto a simplified model in the computer. Measuring was possible because the images could be rectified
by stipulating a projection plane. The results were a vivid and detailed replica of the measured object.
The video-assisted robotic capabilities of the data collector allowed for quick measuring, and the measurements
were documented with the images, which minimized the need for a field notebook. It was not necessary to
measure additional targets. The images could be used as texture, which proved advantageous to the representation of the floor. Due to the setup of the instrument, and to complete the texturing of the measured surfaces,
some of the surfaces were covered with patterns. Though Trimble VX images were used for the texture of the
A screenshot of a 3D model using images made with the Trimble VX; this
shows an almost realistic picture of the ceiling of the Asam Hall.
The entrance to the Hall of the Muses in the Ettlingen palace, taken with
the Trimble VX Spatial Station.
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Technology&more; 2009-3
floor in Asam Hall, photos from a digital camera could be
incorporated, which helped if gaps in the texture needed
to be closed.
building documentation, industrial surveying, road
construction, protection of historic buildings and
monuments, and GIS applications. Künzel envisions
using the Spatial Station as a cost-effective tool for
facility management, the protection of historic buildings and monuments and plant construction. "What I
particularly like is that the synchronized photos can
be evaluated metrically, which means I'm not dependent on time for the evaluation," Künzel says. This
is important because his company employs contract
workers and saving time saves money.
There were many benefits to using the Spatial Station
for this project. Besides single-point measurements, the
instrument has a handy controller and photo-realistic
resolution of 3 megapixels. It is also light weight (5.25
kg or 11 lbs for the instrument and 0.35 kg or 0.77 lb for
the rechargeable batteries) and has a temperature range
of –20°C to 50°C. A major advantage to the Trimble
RealWorks Survey Software is that images can be used
as texture.
Footnote: Lorenzo Campana, the university student who
coordinated measuring, found a job immediately after
completing his examinations. The Ettlingen council was
very pleased with his work, though the palace has not yet
been restored.
"The application field has not been fully realized
yet," says Künzel, who owns Geoconsult GmbH in
Ettlingen, an 18-year-old company specializing in
Night images by Bernd Schumacher
A Brief History of the Palace
Built in 1192, the castle was armed and expanded in the 13th century to include a keep (central tower used as a fortress
or dungeon), which still remains. After the principality of Baden was divided between two brothers in 1535, the castle
was reconstructed as a Renaissance castle and completed in 1600. The castle and town were destroyed in 1689 by
King Louis XIV of France. In 1727, Marchioness Sibylla Augusta, the widow of Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm of Baden,
redesigned the castle as her dower. Her builder, Johann Michael Ludwig Rohrer, created a luxurious baroque castle
using the remains of the old building. After the marchioness’ death in 1733, the castle fell into decline, serving as a
guesthouse and then as a military hospital and arsenal for uniforms in 1812. In 1871 it was converted into a school for
Prussian sergeants, and in 1912 the town of Ettlingen assumed ownership.
Technology&more; 2009-3
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Big Step for a Small Country
Trimble Technology Helps a Developing Country Move Forward
With assistance from MCA-Benin and NGS, IGN selected
locations for seven CORS that put most locations in Benin
within 100 km (60 mi) of a CORS. IGN selected Trimble
NetR5™ Reference Station receivers and Trimble Zephyr
Geodetic™ antennas for the CORS locations. Each CORS
streams raw data to a control center in Cotonou running
Trimble GPSNet™ Software. IGN installed a Trimble GNSS
Choke Ring antenna at the Cotonou CORS, which is in the
process of being accepted as part of the African Geodetic
Reference Frame (AFREF).
As a key part of the MCC-financed Access to Land Project
(ATL), MCA-Benin and IGN organized the work to collect
and manage Benin’s rural land information. The ATL called
for mapping existing rural parcels to an accuracy of 20–30 cm
(0.6–1.0 ft). For this work, IGN selected Trimble GeoXH™
handheld receivers with external antennas and Trimble
Pathfinder® Office Software. To achieve the needed accuracy,
IGN uses Trimble H-Star™ technology and post processes
the rover data using data from the CORS. For surveying,
IGN selected Trimble R8 GNSS receivers and Trimble TSC2
controllers running Trimble Survey Controller Software. They
use Trimble Geomatics Office™ Software to process the GNSS data.
L
ying along the Gulf of Guinea in sub-Saharan
West Africa, the country of Benin is working to
improve the way of life for its citizens. For developing countries such as Benin, one of the most insidious
problems is the lack of adequate land titling and record
systems. Without stable land records, it is difficult to
convey property ownership or obtain financing for
improvements or development.
“In the villages, property rights are customary and oral, and
are passed down by the village councils,” explains Kevin
Barthel, a senior land tenure specialist with the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC)*. “There is uncertainty over
land ownership and rights. And without firm ownership,
people tend to invest less in the land.” Formed by the U.S.
government in 2004 to facilitate economic growth in developing countries, MCC (www.mcc.gov) is providing funding
to enable Benin to create documented land titles in urban
areas and rural villages. To meet the objectives, Benin
needed to modernize their national geodetic framework
for surveying and mapping.
Once the work is completed, roughly 30,000 occupancy
permits in urban areas will convert to land titles, and 85,000
households in rural areas will receive titles or certificates.
Future plans include increasing the density of the reference
network and providing real-time DGPS correction services.
It’s a big step for a small country.
*The views expressed in this article are solely those of
the individual quoted and do not necessarily represent
the views of the Millennium Challenge Corp. or the
government of the U.S.
The National Geographic Institute of Benin (IGN) worked
with experts from the U.S. National Geodetic Survey
(NGS) and the Millennium Challenge Account-Benin
(MCA-Benin) to analyze the existing reference frame. The
traditional approach of intervisible geodetic control points
would have required more than 2,000 new control points.
Instead, IGN decided to create a network of Continuously
Operating Reference Stations (CORS). The CORS would
eliminate the costs to install and maintain conventional
control points and become the high-accuracy backbone
for IGN’s surveying and mapping program. By adopting the
CORS, Benin jumped beyond terrestrial surveying and moved
directly to some of the most modern technology available.
See feature article in POB’s September issue. www.pobonline.com
Burkina Faso
BENIN
Nigeria
Cote d’Ivoire
Togo
Ghana
Cameroon
Gulf of Guinea
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Technology&more; 2009-3
Drilling Holes
in the Desert.
Where Do We Start?
P
recision is a requirement that is drilled into and
expected from field crews at Boart Longyear, a
leading drilling services provider. So when the
company was first awarded a critical, multi-milliondollar upgrade project at Arizona’s Navajo Generating
Station near Lake Powell, it prepared itself with the
essential technology and expertise it needed to perform
the work.
The task: to directionally drill five new 122-cm (48-in)
diameter water-intake shafts at a 53-degree angle to a
depth of 152 m (500 ft). The challenge for Boart was to
align their drill rig in the correct positions and inclinations at the surface to accurately drill the holes. There
was just one problem—they didn’t have the precise start
point for the drill.
Without an accurate start point and drilling angle, drill
teams would have had to bore holes with their best-guess
estimates and hope they were on target. Fortunately for
Boart, Trimble survey technology provided the foresight
they needed to avoid that scenario of uncertainty and
definitively resolve the “where” question.
“With my controls set up specifically to align the drill rig,
I could use my Trimble total station, TSC2 and Survey
Controller software not only to determine the exact
start point for each shaft, I could also check the status
of the hole at certain depths and calculate in real time
whether the hole will be on target at 152 meters (500 ft),”
says Darren Yellowaga, survey manager and assistant
vice president with Project Design Consultants (PDC).
“Trying to figure that out without the capabilities of the
Trimble S6 would have been extremely difficult.”
Though PDC was initially commissioned by Hatch Mott
McDonald (the design firm responsible for the new
shafts design) to rectify and reestablish ground control
to prepare the site for drilling, the relatively routine
site-control procedure was a significant day’s work for
Yellowaga. That was because Boart crews realized that the
same efficient and accurate survey technology could serve
Technology&more; 2009-3
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its precision needs for aligning its drill rig to a start point on the
ground. And with that, Yellowaga’s Trimble technology became
bolted—sometimes literally—to the drilling operations at the
Navajo Generating Station.
However, with five holes involved, Boart needed to ensure
it proceeded with the most effective and viable drilling
strategy. Initially Boart planned to drill a 122-cm (48-in) hole
in one pass, so at predetermined intervals they mapped the
position of the hole using a GyroSmart tool located in the
hammer. To complement this 3D map, Yellowaga used a
Trimble VX Spatial Station to scan and create a 3D as-built
of the first 30 m (100 ft) of the hole.
Yellowaga first established the main site control using the
Trimble R8 GNSS System, the Trimble TSC2 Controller and
the Trimble S6 Robotic Total Station. He then set secondary
control on the roof of an existing pump house to enable him
to align the drill rig and routinely monitor the accuracy of
drilling operations.
Setting the Spatial Station inside the mast of the drill rig,
Yellowaga scanned the open hole, collecting some 12,000
points in about two hours. CAD specialists at PDC processed
point clouds of the acquired data using Trimble’s RealWorks
Survey Software and provided Boart with a 3D model of the
shaft at 1.5-m (5-ft) segments that were accurate to 0.32 cm
(0.13 in). Based on that detail, Boart revised its initial strategy to a two-pass method: drilling a smaller hole first and
then widening the shaft to 122 cm (48 in).
A tricky challenge indeed! Yellowaga needed to help Boart
crews maneuver, center and angle a 63,503-kg (140,000-lb)
drill rig over a small target and keep it there while it churned
through the sandstone. Using the combination of the TSC2
and the Direct Reflex (DR) feature of the Trimble S6,
Yellowaga was able to acquire exact deltas for proper alignment of the rig. This allowed him to direct the drill rig driver
in real time until the rig was exactly centered over the start
point. With the real-time measurements of the Trimble S6
and TSC2, Yellowaga could then help the Boart team set the
correct inclination for the rig’s hammer to ensure it would
drill the holes at the right slant angle.
With the two-pass strategy in place, Yellowaga then repeated
the rig-alignment process to begin drilling the first shaft. At
a depth of 9 m (30 ft), Boart crews installed a steel surface
casing tube and Yellowaga set up the Trimble S6 to check the
tube’s position and alignment. From the height of the pump
house roof, he could view the top 4.5 m (15 ft) of the tube.
Using the total station’s DR technology, he then measured
both the position and inclination, and crews made any
necessary adjustments. A smaller tube was then placed
inside the surface casing and Yellowaga again measured its
position by setting up from inside the drill rig mast.
For efficiency and better accuracy, Boart crews fabricated a
four-legged, round steel plate, centered a simple prism on it
and lowered it to the bottom of the tube with ropes. Yellowaga
inserted himself and the Trimble S6 inside the drill rig mast,
sighted his center point on top of the pump house and then
turned the instrument down to sight the prism 9 m (29 ft)
below. Using the TSC2, he recorded those measurements
and then projected them out 152 m (500 ft) to verify whether
they would hit their target window. Guided by that survey
precision, Yellowaga says each shaft hit its target within 0.3 m
(1 ft)—a feat he doesn’t believe could have been achieved
without his advanced survey equipment.
Indeed, with Trimble’s survey technology steering them in
the right direction, Boart completed the final shaft in March
2009, helping to ensure the Navajo Generating Station
continues to supply its million-strong customer base with
uninterrupted power well into the future.
See feature article in American Surveyor’s September issue.
www.amerisurv.com
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Technology&more; 2009-3
Stopping a Landslide in Austria
Using GNSS Technology to Measure a Mass on the Move
Photo by Michael Pühringer
T
he trouble had been building for months. Located in central Austria near the town of Gmunden, the
narrow Gschliefgraben (“sliding ditch”) valley is well known as an unstable area. It lies between two
mountains and drops from a height of 850 m (2,790 ft) down to the shore of Lake Traun at 423 m
(1,390 ft). Landslides have occured in the Gschliefgraben since the ice age and major slides were documented
in 1470, 1660 and 1734. But for more than 100 years, there had been little reason for alarm. That changed in
November 2007, when a forester making routine checks discovered that a road in the Gschliefgraben had shifted.
The Moving Mass
The incident began more than a year earlier. In April 2006, a rockfall dumped approximately 70,000 m3 (92,000
cubic yards) of debris into the Gschliefgraben valley. Several days of heavy rainfall in November 2007 set the earth
in motion. The accumulated material began to move, covering a distance of 500 m (1,600 ft) across a front 100 m
(330 ft) wide and up to 20 m (65 ft) deep. By mid-December, the huge mass was moving as much as 4.7 m (15 ft) per
day. The homes and businesses along Lake Traun lay directly in its path.
A crisis team—led by the mayor of Gmunden—declared the entire area to be a disaster zone. On December 3, 2007,
55 homes were evacuated and the roads and businesses on the eastern shore of Lake Traun were closed.
The task of managing the emergency went to the Austrian Wildbach und Lawinenverbauung (Austrian Service for
Avalanche and Torrent Control), which assembled a team of geologists, geophysicists, engineers, surveyors and
technical specialists. The team initiated immediate countermeasures. To divert the water from the slope, crews
dug ditches in the upper part of the Gschliefgraben and drilled wells—some reaching depths of 170 m (560 ft)—to
drain lower layers. They installed bores and pilings to slow the debris movement. And they examined the lakebed
and debris cone for any notable distortion or fissures.
Technology&more; 2009-3
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After a few weeks, the lower slopes had stabilized and a few homes were reoccupied, but the danger had not
passed. Earth movements were still occurring in the upper part of the Gschliefgraben, and fire and safety teams
patrolled hourly.
Photo by Austrian Wildbach und Lawinenverbauung
The trouble began anew in January 2008 when warm
weather caused more meltwater to flow into the Gschliefgraben. The water leached through the upper layer of
earth and accumulated underground. The underlying
marlstone threatened to turn into a lubricating slush
that could start a major slide. By the end of January, as
much as 200 m3 (53,000 gallons) of water were being
pumped out of some 80 dewatering wells each day.
purchased a Trimble 5800 GPS Receiver and Trimble
TSC2 Controller running Trimble Survey Controller
Software. “We needed a GPS system that was fast, highly
portable and simple to operate,” said Harald Gruber, an
engineer from the Avalanche Control Authority. “The
5800 proved to be an excellent solution for this project.”
At the start of the work, the Wildbach surveyors established approximately 150 monitoring points in and
around the slide area. As expected, the moving earth
promptly destroyed many of them, and by late summer
fewer than 70 points remained available. Those points
were enough to provide the information needed to
characterize the motion. Using the Trimble system and
collecting 30 seconds of data at each point, the surveyors
could measure all of the points in less than three hours.
Throughout the winter and spring, the Wildbach teams
worked at a feverish pace to reduce the amount of water
lubricating the slide, remove debris and control the flow’s
direction. Numerous technical teams, drillers and heavy
equipment and trucks made the slide area look like a
construction site. By mid-May the slope was moving only
a few centimeters per day. The worst was over.
Keeping Track
The Gschliefgraben lies within the NetFocus RTN
operated by Energie AG, Austria’s electric utility. The
NetFocus RTN uses Trimble VRS technology to provide
centimeter-level positioning services throughout central
Austria. Made up of 10 Trimble NetRS® Reference receivers and Trimble RTKNet™ Software, the NetFocus RTN
delivered a steady flow of Real Time Kinematic (RTK)
corrections to the Gschliefgraben. It proved to be an
Throughout the incident, the Wildbach experts needed
current and accurate information about the size and
behavior of the landslide. Setting stable points for total
stations within the slide area was impossible, and day-today traverse work for monitoring wouldn’t work on the
fast-moving ground. The Wildbach team realized that
GPS was a faster and more flexible solution. They
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Technology&more; 2009-3
Reviewing the Past; Planning the Future
important time saver. Because the NetFocus RTN
eliminated the need to set up local base stations, the
Wildbach surveyors could go wherever they were
needed on short notice.
By June 2008, the Wildbach teams could take a breather,
review the project and lay new plans. It had been a huge
effort. More than 3.8 million m3 (5 million cubic yds) of
moving earth was stopped. Seventeen thousand truckloads had carried 250,000 m3 (327,000 cubic yds) of soil
and rock to be hauled away or dumped in the lake. To
capture and carry water out of the valley, workers had
installed 220 drainage wells, 10 km (6 mi) of ditches and
1,100 m (3,600 ft) of pipe. Trees had been cleared from 22
hectares (54 acres), and 2 km (1.2 mi) of emergency and
auxiliary roads were built.
The surveyors used cellular phones to receive RTK
corrections from the NetFocus RTN. The phones
connected via Bluetooth to the Trimble TSC2 Controller,
which in turn had a separate Bluetooth link to the
Trimble 5800. The cable-free setup made life easier
for the surveyors in the field.
In the office, Harald Gruber downloaded each day’s data
into Trimble Geomatics Office Software. Gruber analyzed the results in an Excel spreadsheet and used GIS
software to develop graphics and reports. According to
Gruber, the RTK accuracy was good for when the slide
was moving quickly. Gruber noted that higher accuracy
is desirable during periods of slow or subtle motion. The
ability of the Trimble 5800 to collect data for detailed
computations and analysis also made the instrument
well-suited for the project.
To help avoid a disaster in the future, the Austrian government will invest upwards of €11 million (U.S. $15 million)
over the next 10 years on drainage, flood prevention,
reforestation and monitoring. The monitoring will utilize
remote sensing technologies including airborne laser
scanning and echo sounding, subsurface sensors and
soil mechanics surveys, surface observations, terrestrial
surveys and webcam observation. The GPS receiver is still
at work, making weekly measurements on 66 fixed points.
“Thanks to GPS monitoring,” says Hofrat Wolfgang Gasperl,
a graduate engineer with the Wildbach’s forestry service,
“we were able to preserve the homes of the residents of
Gmunden. We hope that the danger will be avoided
permanently through our preventive measures.”
The measurements with the Trimble 5800 documented
the surface movements; GPS points also provided
control for five flights of airborne laser scans. Based on
Gruber’s data, the Wildbach team planned additional
wells, pipes and ditches, construction of protective
walls, removal of undulations and tree clearing.
See feature article in POB’s August issue: www.pobonline.com
Photo by Michael Pühringer
Technology&more; 2009-3
-10-
Calm Water, Moving Rock
Trimble Technology Helps Scientists Gain
New Insights From Old Data
A
round the world, the impact of engineering projects
is felt in many ways. Large dams and reservoirs can
have surprising effects on the geologic structures
that lie beneath them. Today, GNSS is providing scientists
and engineers with new tools to analyze and understand the
behavior of the earth's rock and soils.
Located in northeastern Brazil in the state of Rio Grande
do Norte, the Açu Dam was built in 1983 and impounds a
reservoir of 2.4 billion m3 (1.9 million acre-ft). Prior to the
dam’s construction, the region had experienced little seismic
activity. But after the reservoir was filled, microearthquakes
began to occur. Several scientific studies reached the same
conclusion: the observed seismicity was triggered by the
impoundment of the reservoir, a phenomenon called
reservoir-induced seismicity (RIS). At Açu, the primary
triggering mechanism is diffusion of pressure from the
reservoir to greater depths.
Using Trimble Geomatics Office Software, the teams computed
locations for the sensors to an accuracy of <1 cm (0.03 ft). By
combining this data with advanced waveform analysis,
earthquake hypocenters can be determined to an accuracy
better than 20 m (65 ft). According to Pytharouli, the
hypocenters previously could be determined only to about
300-500 m (1,000-1,600 ft). The value of the data from the
1990s increased dramatically.
Historic Data
In a study done from 1994 to 1997, an array of 3D digital
seismic sensors collected data about seismic activity at Açu.
Geophysicists used information from the sensors to determine
the hypocenters of earthquake events.
Pytharouli sees important uses for the research. “We brought
21st century technology to geological studies,” she said. “The
high-accuracy data improves our understanding of the evolution of seismicity and permeability within the fault zones. This
has implications for industries such as geothermal energy,
deep well injection of waste liquids and nuclear waste disposal,
where prediction of hydraulic and mechanical property evolution is required for large rock masses, over long time-scales.”
In 2007, a collaboration between Universities of Glasgow and
Strathclyde in Scotland, Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil and
Boston in the U.S. began to analyze the existing data and add
new observations. Dr Stella Pytharouli and her collaborators
worked to wring new information from the old data. Because
the analyses relied on the known speed of seismic waves, it
was critical to know the sensor’s locations. They knew they
could produce better results by improving the accuracy of
the sensors’ positions.
For more information, see http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/faults/
The Brazil group used Trimble GPS to conduct the measurements. The seismic sensors’ locations had been marked in
the 1990s, and the University teams used Trimble 5700 GPS
receivers with Trimble TSC2 controllers to collect static GPS
data at each position. The Scottish group used the GPS system
to locate the boundaries of the region’s fault zones; along
with their Brazilian collaborators, they collected positions of
hundreds of magnetometers observations. A nearby reference
station occupied by a Trimble R7 GNSS Receiver was the base
for the geodetic measurements, with all positions computed
in the WGS84 coordinate system.
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Technology&more; 2009-3
Signs of Change in Belgium
Question: How many road signs are there in the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium?
Answer: We don’t know for sure yet but we will soon. Not only that, but we’ll know how many of
each type, size and color, exactly where they are—and their condition.
T
hat’s a real question, posed by the Infrastructure
Department of the Flemish Region of Belgium.
To get the real answer and have the data added
to its GIS, the department contracted with SODIPLAN
S.A. in May 2007 to map an estimated 350,000 road
signs along some 5,150 km (3,200 mi) of the major
roads in the region.
SODIPLAN is uniquely qualified for this task. Since
its beginning in Belgium in 1991, the company has
focused on innovative use of digital cartography as a
management tool in GIS applications. SODIPLAN was
first in the European market to introduce the use of a
new technology known as Système d’acquisition mobile
(SAM), or Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS).
SODIPLAN has gained significant MMS expertise
through a variety of projects: road inspection (detecting
and interpreting cracks and faults in the road surface);
surveying canals and other waterways with MMS equipment mounted on boats; surveying roadside furniture
(such as benches) in France; and others. In 2008, SODIPLAN
formed a new subsidiary, GeoInvent, to focus on its MMS
work, including the Flemish road signs project.
The project consists of numerous activities organized in
two principal phases:
• Mobile Mapping (or Data Acquisition) Phase: itinerary
planning; and mobile mapping survey;
• Data Extraction and Processing Phase: laser automated
detection; photogrammetric extraction; data formatting;
field surveying; CAD road signs design; linear referencing;
and printing the final results.
Mobile Mapping Phase
The equipment used for the mobile mapping survey is
the Trimble Trident-3D™ Series 300 Solution, produced by
Geo-3D Inc., a Trimble Company. The Trimble Trident-3D
is a vehicle-mounted MMS that produces georeferenced
sequences of digital images and scanner-based point
clouds along road corridors. The 300 Series includes full
post-processing capabilities to position assets and scanner
data for automated asset detection.
SODIPLAN has used the Trimble Trident-3D System for a
number of years and has evolved its configuration to meet
their specific needs. The mapping vehicles are able to
map roadside assets, measure road geometry and inspect
pavement for roughness and distress characterization
in a single pass at roadway speeds, thereby dramatically
improving mapping and data collection efficiency. Only
the roadside assets capability is being used for the Flemish
road signs project.
Each of the two van-mounted systems is run by a crew of
two people (driver and operator) and consists of:
Knocking Their Socks Off
During this project, Geo-3D came through with a unique example of supreme customer support. A distance measuring
instrument (DMI) failed while doing a road survey and GeoInvent didn’t have a spare on hand. By coincidence, that same day a
Trimble GeoSpatial Transportation Account Manager and a software programmer stopped by the GeoInvent office following
their visit to another European country. And they just happened to have a DMI in their luggage—wrapped in a pair of socks!
Technology&more; 2009-3
-12-
Data Extraction and Processing Phase
Manual and automated extraction of road side assets
(signs, poles, pavement markings, etc.) is performed in the
office using automatic batch processing with the Trimble
Trident-3D Analyst Software. Any asset that appears in
an image can be positioned or measured on-screen with
the software. Automated sign detection is attained with
the use of scanner and photogrammetric images and
navigation system data. The sign’s location and dimensions are first detected in the point clouds. In addition to
geo-referenced coordinates, each asset extracted can be
assigned attribute data such as type, material types and
codes, as well as dimensional measurements.
The data formatting work is performed at an offshore
data extraction center in Morocco, which is managed by
GeoInvent and its production partners.
• Visual sensors: four high-resolution cameras to provide
a panoramic view;
• Laser sensors: two 2D scanners for automated detection
of roadside assets or road geometry. The scanners also
generate 3D point clouds that can be used for generating
digital terrain models or the equivalent (the third dimension is provided by vehicle motion);
• Navigation sensors: an Applanix® POS LV™ 200 GNSS/
inertial system plus a DMI to provide accurate spatial
and linear position referencing for all data captured.
The integration of GNSS, inertial and DMI data provides
a very robust solution, even in areas with poor GNSS
availability;
• Camera and laser data capture software to control and
synchronize the geospatial data acquisition coming from
the various sensors. Thus, images and laser scanning
shots are tagged with appropriate position and orientation
information.
GeoInvent contracts with outside surveyors for complementary field surveys. Their work adds new information
that may not have been attainable from the films or video,
provides a quality check of results, and verifies that the
data is complete and up-to-date.
The CAD road signs design function is performed by sign
designers, who consolidate the data relating to each type
of sign and develop detailed specifications for that sign
type. This enables easy re-ordering of any sign from a sign
supplier in the future.
Linear referencing provides the final data formatting for
delivery. Each location is correlated so that it is defined as
X meters from the preceding milestone position, as well as
by its GPS coordinates.
Carl Deroanne, Sales Manager for GeoInvent, believes
that this is the first project of its type in the EU and that
its successful completion will lead to similar projects in
other areas of Europe over the next few years. Just imagine
the tremendous number and variety of signs throughout
Europe. Those will be really big numbers—both for the
countries and, hopefully, for GeoInvent.
This mobile arsenal of mapping/data acquisition capabilities
enables the very rapid accumulation of considerable data.
The operation is fast (the vehicle is driven along the road
at traffic compatible speeds), accurate (sub-meter for
roadside assets) and safe (the crew remains in the vehicle;
no traffic control measures are necessary).
About Trimble’s GeoSpatial Division
Geo-3D, RolleiMetric, TopoSys, and INPHO now form Trimble's GeoSpatial Division. Each of these recently acquired
(since 2007) entities provides unique technology and solutions for the acquisition and utilization of geospatial data by
mobile mapping. Trimble is one of the drivers accelerating the trend of convergence of the land surveying, mapping
and GIS, and aerial mapping segments. Trimble’s Connected Site approach creates seamless working relationships
among Trimble products, technologies, services and their end users and dramatically broadens the range of solutions
available to end users.
-13-
Technology&more; 2009-3
State-of-the-Art Surveying for
State-of-the-Art Museum
NYC MAD Museum Gets New Face
A
fter more than 50 years, New York City’s Museum
of Arts and Design (MAD) had outgrown its
original location. The New York City Economic
Development Corporation (NYCEDC) recommended a
vacant building at 2 Columbus Circle for the museum's
new home. Ideal in size and layout, the new site would
also boast one of the city’s most renowned addresses.
However, it also posed an enormous and unique technical challenge, which Langan Engineering met by
innovatively employing Trimble technology.
problem. However, the building was originally constructed as
a zero-setback condition; historic hand-drawn surveys showed
the building to extend to the right-of-way (ROW) lines on all
four sides. The new curtain wall was going to encroach into
the adjoining street ROW, requiring a special city franchise
agreement.
Using original building design plans and select field
measurements, the design team back-calculated the location
of the structural wall in relationship to the property lines. An
estimate was then provided for the encroachment condition,
settling on a minimal 10-cm (4-in) franchise requirement.
Encroaching on the Boundaries
Erected in 1964, the 12-story modernist building was
designed by Edward Durell Stone as the Gallery of Modern
Art, and later housed the New York Cultural Center. The
NYCEDC named the MAD as site developer in 2002, but it
took nearly three years to overcome landmark designation
attempts. During that time, Langan Engineering was engaged
as the project surveyor and site/geotechnical engineer.
Measuring the Unmeasurable
Working on the site survey, Langan’s Director of Surveying
and Mapping, Joseph E. Romano, PLS, collaborated with
Langan’s Laser Scanning Group Manager, Paul Fisher, PLS.
The group confirmed the building’s façade and plumb status
in relationship to the property lines, as well as clearance
distances on a 0.6x0.6-m (2x2-ft) grid across each façade, to
be used to design the brackets for the curtain wall. Fisher
produced a proposal for the ROW encroachment and
sequence of construction.
The design called for removing the original street-facing
curtain wall and constructing a new façade in front of the
remaining structural wall. Normally this would not be a
Technology&more; 2009-3
-14-
3D scanning, combined with an unconventional use of CAD
options, would provide the detail needed. However, while
Langan had routinely used 3D scanning to collect façade/
planimetric data and had produced CAD models and paper
prints, the firm had never been asked to provide detailed
clearance distances. “Langan had produced similar elevation
surveys in the past to check for deformation in building walls
and encroachments,” Fisher says, “but those were collected
on a very large grid using Trimble reflectorless total stations.
With the 3D scans, Langan would have to address the amount
of data and how to decimate it to make it usable in CAD.”
of targets. Then began the critical and tedious process of
removing the scaffolding from the point cloud. Every object
along the building face had to be removed, from the wooden
planks to the bolts holding the scaffolding into the building.
The point cloud was reduced to a 0.15-m (0.5-ft) grid, making
the data “light” enough for a standard CAD program. The
data were then exported into Trimble Terramodel® Design
and Surveying Software.
Each elevation was prepared in a separate file that included
the franchise line adjacent to the building face and the
point data. Elevations were assigned to the franchise line
to produce a 3D plane that ran parallel with the vertical
wall of the building. Then a scaled elevation of the building
served as a digital terrain model (DTM) surface and allowed
a horizontal plane to be created from the franchise line.
Further complicating the project, the building would be
wrapped in scaffolding. “We had a difficult task,” Fisher says.
Innovative Scanning and CAD Work
Using the horizontal and vertical controls established during
the site survey, Fisher's team obtained scans with a Trimble
3D scanner. The first set captured data with the marble
panels still on the building. If the crew was unable to obtain
enough data with the scaffolding installed, these data would
allow them to back-calculate to the concrete structure using
general thickness measurements of the marble. However,
Fisher notes, “our hope was to not have to use this for the
final calculations.”
Finally, an isopach model was completed using standard surface modeling options within Trimble Terramodel. A dense
grid was overlaid on the isopach data, and offset values to
the franchise line were extracted. The deliverables were a
CAD file in the original dense-grid format, as well as paper
prints created with a 0.6-m (2-ft) grid to make the data legible
and to coincide with the curtain wall grid. The curtain wall
designer was then able to overlay its bracketing plan onto the
wall offset drawing and determine the exact size of the bracketing required to place the curtain wall on the franchise line.
A second set of scans was completed with the scaffolding
up and the marble removed. To observe the façade, multiple
scans were performed to obtain data on the building face
obscured by scaffolding, using a fourth-floor office window, a
seventh-floor roof and a 15th-story roof of nearby buildings.
The large number of scans required the setting of over 60
building-mounted targets, the greatest amount Langan had
ever performed.
Now Open
The museum was authorized to proceed with renovations
in February 2005. The new MAD building opened in
September 2008 to much acclaim. 3D scanning and the
creative insight to push common CAD options to their
limits proved the correct approach for a unique design and
construction project that created a cultural work of art.
Trimble RealWorks Survey Software was used for the registration process, which was far more complex than most of
the firm's previous scan projects, due to the massive amount
Scan of building exterior.
See POB’s February Web feature article: www.pobonline.com
Trimble 3D scanner at work.
-15-
View looking from the museum onto Columbus Circle, just
west of Central Park in New York City.
Technology&more; 2009-3
Trimble Technology Aids Agriculture
Administration in Europe
A
griculture has always played an important role in
sustaining the health of rural economies across
Europe. More than 50 years ago, the European
Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development created the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to encourage
agricultural productivity, ensure a stable supply of
affordable food and bolster Europe’s agricultural
sector following World War II.
Today, CAP has evolved to promote a healthy, competitive
agricultural industry throughout Europe. Farmers who keep
their land in good agricultural and environmental condition
and meet certain standards concerning public, animal
and plant health, the environment, and animal welfare,
can qualify to receive subsidy payments. The increased
standards help ensure that most-qualified farmers receive
aid. But that also means additional reporting and recordkeeping by the overseeing agencies.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the westernmost and most
populous state in Germany, the Chamber of Agriculture
is responsible for reviewing subsidy applications from
local farmers, inspecting farms to ensure all requirements
are met, and maintaining the local agricultural database.
Until recently, the Chamber’s incompatible data collection
systems made it difficult to meet European Union (EU)
requirements for managing information about local farmers’
requests for government subsidies.
“We had some experience using GPS equipment for our inspections, but our existing system was not compatible with the rest
of our internal processes and workflow,” said Bernhard Sehrt,
technical service inspector for the Chamber of Agriculture. “We
needed a better way to collect and manage information in order
to better meet the needs of local farmers.”
The Chamber began searching for a GPS solution that was
affordable, accurate, reliable, easy-to-use, and compatible
with other internal systems. “We discovered that the agricultural administration in a nearby state had been using
Trimble GPS equipment for many years with great results,”
said Sehrt. “We selected Trimble technology based on our
colleagues’ recommendation, and because of the equipment’s functionality and easy handling.”
Technology&more; 2009-3
-16-
Once the field worker has gathered all necessary data, he
discusses the results on-site with the applying farmer and
creates an electronic test report using customized software
created in-house. Back in the office, the inspector downloads
the information into the Chamber’s GIS, where the data can
be easily viewed and analyzed using LaFIS software. LaFIS
is a GIS application created specifically to help European
government organizations clarify, rule and check on farmer
declarations under the subsidy management system.
Next, the inspector’s electronic field report is submitted to
the central network for further processing. The completed
report is submitted to the Chamber of Agriculture’s local
district office, where a copy is printed and sent to the
farmer.
“The reports are the basis for approval or denial of
subsidies, so it’s important that they’re as accurate and
complete as possible,” said Sehrt. “Since switching to the
Trimble equipment, we can complete work orders 50 percent faster, comply with EU requirements and avoid fines
for non-compliance. The equipment has more than paid
for itself.”
The Chamber purchased 28 Trimble GeoExplorer® 2008
series GeoXT™ handheld GPS computers running FKS-Pad
software. The FKS-Pad application is an ESRI ArcPad-based
software solution designed specifically for the European
agriculture industry in accordance with EU regulations.
EU requirements mandate that agricultural parcels are
measured with GPS equipment that guarantees certain
accuracy levels. Trimble GeoXT handheld computers are
TÜV Category A certified, which means they comply with
EU accuracy standards. Category A certification requires a
buffer accuracy of less than 0.40 m (1.31 ft), far beyond the
maximum tolerance of 1.5 m (4.92 ft), according to the area
measurement validation scheme from the EU.
“We knew there would be some resistance to any new
technology from our field workers, so it was important to
find a solution that was user-friendly and intuitive, while
also providing the accuracy and reliability we needed to
meet EU requirements,” said Sehrt. “The Trimble GeoXT
handhelds were the perfect fit for us.”
“Because Trimble has gone through the rigorous TÜV
compliance process, we can do our work with the confidence that we comply with European cross-compliance
rules,” said Sehrt. “The Trimble handhelds also help us
adhere to regulations simply because they are so easy to
use that our inspectors are more likely to collect complete,
accurate information. This alone is saving us millions of
Euros in sanctions charges.”
Now, when the Chamber of Agriculture receives a subsidy
application from a local farmer, it is stored in the Chamber’s
integrated administration and control system. From there,
technical inspection service personnel review the application
and determine which farms require a field visit. Work orders
for field personnel are then issued, which include the criteria
for risk evaluation, aerial photos of the agricultural area
under consideration, data from the application and quality
control documentation.
The Chamber also uses GeoXT handhelds to help map agricultural test lots for new types of grain, vegetables, fruits
and other crops, as well as new fertilization processes. As
a next step, the Chamber plans to purchase more GeoXT
handhelds; Sehrt anticipates that they will continue to
find new uses for the technology.
“Field workers are equipped with a laptop computer and
a GeoXT handheld,” said Sehrt. “The field worker logs into
the system from a home office or the local branch office to
retrieve the work orders assigned to him each day.” The field
worker then visits the agricultural site, using the GeoXT
handheld to map the area under consideration, collect
information about the area’s size and create an outline of
it. Additional data, such as type of crop, size of agricultural
company, revenue and ownership details are also collected.
“The reliability and accuracy of the GPS technology available today is astonishing,” said Sehrt. “We plan to use it
to further increase efficiency and make sure we’re doing
everything we can to help local farmers thrive.”
-17-
Technology&more; 2009-3
Image Integration: A High-Productivity Approach to
Managing Digital Photography for Surveyors
S
urveyors today employ a variety of ways for documenting their field surveys. Measurements and descriptions are recorded in electronic data collectors. Audio recorders can be used to record comments and parol
evidence from property owners and other stakeholders. Field books contain sketches and detailed notes.
And survey crews frequently use digital photographs to provide visual documentation of monuments and work sites.
Using the power of digital images can introduce some
challenges in the field. The survey crew must remember to
take the necessary photos while on the job site. And they
must be sure that the photos are correctly correlated to
the measured points or features. On a project where there
may be hundreds of points and photos, it is crucial to have
a fast, error-free way to attach the images to the survey
points. During download, the images must be kept with
the other field data and managed on the office computer
system. Trimble Surveying Systems offer functionality
designed to make it easy to include digital imaging into the
standard survey workflow.
With a Trimble VX Spatial Station, it’s even easier. Using
the built-in camera in the Trimble VX, surveyors can
shoot, store and connect an image to a point in a single
operation. Before leaving the job site, the Trimble system
helps the field crew verify that all of the required images
are stored in the data collector. They can even view the
images in the field to ensure good quality and complete
visual evidence.
In the office, the transfer to Trimble Business Center
automatically brings in all of the field data and image
files. After that, it’s simple to recall and view the images
that are attached to a point. The image files are stored
separately alongside the field data, and users can easily
access them for utilization in reports and other project
documentation.
Using Trimble Business Center Software, surveyors can define
feature codes that include attributes for attaching an image
or other file to a point. In the field, Trimble Access or Trimble
Survey Controller software can automatically prompt for the
attributes and remind the crew that an image is needed.
For enhanced data management, Trimble Access Software
provides direct connection to the office. With the Trimble
AccessSync™ feature, survey files can be continuously
synchronized between field and office. Images can be sent
to the office for near instantaneous review and analysis.
Trimble Access enables field crews to provide detailed information to the office and receive fast, secure turnaround
on changes and decisions before they leave the job site.
Most crews have ready access to either a camera or a
camera-phone with WiFi or Bluetooth. These devices can
capture and transfer image files wirelessly to the Trimble
TSC2 Controller. The operator can then assign the images
to survey points as the survey is conducted or after all data
collection is complete. Crews can even assign multiple images to a single point. Once the images have been attached,
the Trimble system provides seamless management of the
image and data files.
Technology&more; 2009-3
This article also ran in American Surveyor's June issue:
www.amerisurv.com
-18-
Giving a Boost to
Energy Development
S
to conventional reference stations—and the VRS
solution gives good, repeatable results.”
tretching across north Texas, the Barnett Shale
formation is one of the largest onshore deposits
of natural gas in the U.S. The Shale is expected to
produce gas for 20 to 30 years; more than 6,000 wells
have already been drilled. Much of the gas lies beneath
the developed Dallas/Fort Worth region, and crews face
many challenges getting the gas out of the ground and
to the market. The new pipelines and facilities require
easements, rights-of-way and construction.
Field crews find and measure boundary markers that
office technicians corroborate with property records.
Crews also conduct topographic surveys and capture
digital photographs, especially features that could
affect pipeline alignment.
Each day’s data goes to Denver, where technicians
use Trimble Geomatics Office Software to analyze the
work. “There’s a delicate balance between the need for
data in the office and the time spent in the field filling
in the attributes,” explained Stantec Field Services
Manager Spencer O'Bryan, LSI. “We have done
extensive customization in Trimble Geomatics
Office as well as ArcGIS and our CAD system, so
our data transfers run smoothly.”
Selected to provide surveying services for production and transmission facilities, Stantec has
combined surveying with advanced geographic
information management. Dick Barton, PE-PLS,
survey manager at Stantec’s Denver, Colorado,
office said, “We are engaged for a long-term
project with about 3,500 wells. We rely on the tight
integration of survey data with GIS to produce
accurate, reliable results.”
Once in the GIS, the survey information is used
to verify alignments, develop designs and create
descriptions and exhibits for the myriad of land
agreements along each route. The GIS database is
visible to the Fort Worth office, and O’Bryan operates
a collaborative project management (CPM) site accessible by Stantec and their client.
Initially, the amount of required documentation
was a challenge. Needing to catalog all land records
and make them easy to find, Stantec developed an
in-house program running alongside the project’s
ESRI ArcGIS database. The system indexes deeds,
easements and information related to affected
parcels, and provides hyperlink access to each
document.
Stantec has already completed more than 320 km (200 mi)
of alignment surveys affecting several thousand
parcels. “Because we are combining surveying and
GIS,” said Barton, “we are ahead of the crowd in
survey information management. And that gives
us a competitive advantage.”
Property information goes to Stantec’s field crews
in Fort Worth. About 90 percent of the work is with
GNSS and each crew is equipped with Trimble R8
GNSS receivers, Trimble TSC2 controllers and
connected to a Trimble VRS network. “We could
not do this project without the VRS network,” said
Stantec field office manager Ray Lillibridge. “It
saves an hour or more per crew every day compared
See feature article in Professional Surveyor’s July issue.
www.profsurv.com
-19-
Technology&more; 2009-3
In the Wake of a Hurricane
W
hen Mark W. Huber watched the record storm surges of Hurricane Katrina breach New Orleans’ 17th
Street Canal, he had one thought: “Life’s not going to be the same now.” Huber is with the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, and in August 2005 he was responsible for the QA/QC of the Corps' survey operations in Louisiana, which put him in charge of ensuring the quality of the post-Katrina surveys in the region. That
same evening, Jimmy Chustz, PLS, was having similar thoughts: “It was devastating to watch it all happen,” he says.
Chustz, president of Chustz Surveying Inc., had stored boats and equipment in a (relatively) high field, out
of harm’s way, and was probably the first surveyor doing work in the devastated city. “The levee broke on
Monday,” he says, “and we were there Tuesday morning.” Working under Huber’s direction, Chustz and others
began to do the vital work of damage assessment. But they labored under a serious handicap—the region’s
benchmarks were all underwater or destroyed and, even before Katrina, local surveyors knew that published
National Geodetic Service (NGS) elevation values were off by about a foot.
Worse, a backup system that surveyors had come
to rely on was also hit hard by Katrina. GULFNet, a
network of CORS built and maintained by Louisiana
State University (LSU), was out of commission
immediately after the storm. “Some stations were
blown down, others had lost power, and just getting
to them was difficult because roads had been washed
out,” explains Roy Dokka, PhD, the LSU professor
who originally conceived GULFNet.
After the repair, Chustz and others were happy to
again use GULFNet for positioning. “Communications
were terrible, and the Corps had evacuated to
Vicksburg, Mississippi,” Chustz says, “When we
finally got through to them, they sent us to the 17th
Street Canal to run sections with single-beam
hydrographic equipment. The whole city was underwater, so we got around by boat. There weren’t many
known points available, but GULFNet CORS were
accessible and really sped things up.”
Tony Cavell, PLS, headed up an LSU team that
immediately set to work restoring the system, aided
by emergency personnel. Receivers were repaired
or replaced, solar panels were installed to provide
emergency power, and satellite uplinks were
reestablished. The network was up and running
again in two weeks. To assist the aerial surveys then
taking place, Dokka increased the sampling rate of
reference stations from every 15 seconds to once per
second, which lessened the time lag and increased
the accuracy of airborne GNSS receivers.
Technology&more; 2009-3
As dry ground emerged, Chustz’s crews did static
work with Trimble R8 GNSS or 5700 GPS receivers
to establish control points. These points were then
used as references for hydrographic work, and
Trimble TSC2 controllers were switched as needed
between receivers and total stations.
Huber remembers being a little nervous at the
time—he assumed that GULFNet was reliable but,
like any surveyor, he wanted to be sure. Finally, on
-20-
October 12, 2005, NGS released new figures for area benchmarks, and it turned out that they agreed with
GULFNet’s figures within 0.15 feet or less. “Under the circumstances,” says Huber, “it was quite a relief to have
all our work verified.”
GULFNet proved itself after Hurricane Katrina, but Dokka believed that using Trimble VRS technology to convert
the system to an RTN could make it even more useful. “When we first built GULFNet, we didn’t know about VRS.
So soon after Katrina, in 2005, when we learned about it from Navigation Electronics Inc., we integrated VRS into
everything,” Dokka says.
The decision provided instant benefits for Huber and the other surveyors using the network. “When VRS was
added to the system,” he says, “we began to do RTK without base stations for engineering studies and most of
our other work.”
In 2009, the USACE did a post-Katrina assessment of every federal hurricane structure in southeast Louisiana—
levees, canals and floodwalls—to analyze the region for “hot spots” in advance of the upcoming hurricane
mind, the scientific value is nearly as important as
the emergency applications. Bedrock in Louisiana
can be hundreds of feet deep, and the “ooze” above
the bedrock moves much like a glacier. With no
stable reference points, measuring the rate of this
movement has always been difficult. GULFNet is
helping scientists like Dokka to finally form accurate
models of how fast the state is subsiding, which
naturally aids flood prevention efforts.
season. “Our in-house survey crew (just two guys)
was able to get to every structure and shoot hundreds of miles of profile, as well, in just a couple of
weeks,” Huber says. “Before VRS, it would have taken
considerably longer, and before GULFNet, it would
have taken months.”
Dokka has similar stories. Soon after Katrina, the
State of Louisiana asked him what it would take to
conduct an independent analysis of levees and other
flood structures in the south half of the state. State
officials thought it would cost millions and take years.
“But,” Dokka says, “Tony Cavell and I were able to do it
for them in three months at a fraction of the cost they
had in mind.” In fact, flood-structure assessment has
become so efficient with the VRS-enhanced GULFNet
that the Corps plans to take a “snapshot” look at the
entire Louisiana system annually.
"The evidence is clear," says Dokka. “New Orleans
and south Louisiana are sinking and the survival
of…these coastal communities of south Louisiana
depends on our ability to accurately measure the
change so that mitigation strategies can be developed.
GULFNet helps us develop sound solutions based
on accurate measurements we can rely on.”
See feature article in POB's October issue:
www.pobonline.com
GULFNet is made up of 65 GNSS reference stations
and two redundant server banks. In Dokka’s
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Technology&more; 2009-3
Photo Contest
O
ne of our most popular features, the Technology&more photo contest continues to draw in colorful and interesting
images from around the world. This group of winning photographs comes from India, New Zealand and the U.S.
First place—and a Trimble 4-in-1 all-weather jacket—goes to Survey Technology Manager Grant Van Bortel of V3
Companies for his creative shot of Surveying Underground. You can see the photo on page 1 and the back cover.
This issue’s Honorable Mention winners will each
receive a limited-edition Trimble watch:
Survey Camp
Bharat Lohani, PhD, Associate Professor of Civil
Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Kanpur, shot this creative photo during the annual
Survey Camp he coordinates for about 80 IIT Kanpur
Students at Nainital. The camp is the first geomatics field
work experience for civil engineering students, providing
them insight into practical problems experienced on
site and helping them master mapping techniques
using total stations and hand-held GPS equipment.
The picture was taken while the students were still
at work at sunset. The students use Trimble 5600
DR200+ total stations for their camp projects.
Old vs New
Survey Party Chief Jon Collins of Cetec Engineering
Services, Inc., sent this photo with the following explanation: "We were working on a street beautification and
utilities project last summer in downtown Spearfish,
South Dakota, and saw a great photo opportunity for
an old school/new school picture. The older gentleman
was using his 1940’s Vintage K & E Paragon transit and I
was using my Trimble 5800 GPS Receiver with a Trimble
TSC2 Controller; we worked side-by-side to lay out the
new intersection (curb and gutter, utilities and colored
concrete paving) in downtown Spearfish."
Technology&more; 2009-3
-22-
The Color of Survey
Brent George, Registered Professional Surveyor
and Senior Associate for Andersen & Associates
Ltd. Consulting Surveyors in Christchurch, New
Zealand, sent this picturesque image. George has
been using GPS equipment since the early 1990's
and today continues to use a Trimble 4000 SSi for
high-precision geodetic control projects under
contract to the NZ government. The scenic shot
shows Andersen Geodetic Surveyor Alex Liggett at
"Bossu"—a point overlooking the Akaroa Harbour
in Banks Peninsula (Canterbury, NZ). “The L1/
L2 geodetic antenna is an original model (circa
1995) that has provided great service along with
our other 5 units for nearly 15 years,” says George.
“This is a great testament to the robustness of
Trimble equipment. Our trusty Trimble 4000 SSi
units are as reliable today as the day they were
first delivered!” Also note Alex's "uniform"—this
is the famed Trimble rugby jersey that the Otago
University School of Surveying produced for their
land surveying undergraduates. These are worn
with pride by undergraduates and graduates alike.
Snakes Alive!
Idaho Power Geomorphologist Mark Morehead
took this creative shot in Idaho’s Hells Canyon.
Idaho Power crews were working in conjunction
with Tom Ruby, PLS, of JUB ENGINEERS, Inc., to
set up a Trimble R8 GNSS Base Station on one of
their primary control points for a photogrammetric
control survey. Photogrammetry was performed to
support various studies taking place in that reach
of the canyon. (See article in Technology&more Issue
2007-3.) Suddenly, they realized they were working
right next to a coiled rattlesnake! (You can see the
snake under the rock in the accompanying small
image, a blowup of part of the original picture.)
The unique image was created by using a fish-eye
lens while taking photos of each survey point. The
photos are then used in the office to create obstruction
diagrams for use in Trimble planning software.
Morehead took the fish-eye camera and turned it
upside down to snap this photo of the snake and the
crew. Others in the photo: Jeff Conner, P.E.; Steve
Zanelli, Jet Boat Pilot; Ruby.
-23-
Technology&more; 2009-3
Tech Support Gets Personal
Trimble Assistant Puts a Virtual Support Technician on the Jobsite
W
hen a survey crew in the field has a problem,
it is some of the most expensive downtime
possible. And survey crews are not the
only ones shut down; other workers, materials and
machinery can be idled as well. Whether the issue
lies with equipment, software or procedures, the crew
needs to get back to work quickly.
Matt Bryant understands the problem. As a technical
representative for Western Data Systems (WDS), a Trimble
distributor in Texas, Bryant’s 20 years of experience in
surveying, construction and mapping are valuable assets
for his customers. Thanks to widely available access to the
Internet, Bryant and others like him have a new way to
provide service and support. It’s called Trimble Assistant,
and it is changing the model for technical support, field
service and training. It lets the technician see—and even
control—exactly what is happening in the field.
technician can install needed updates without a trip back
to the office. Trimble Assistant even takes advantage of
cameras built into field tablets and handhelds such as the
Trimble Tablet and Juno™ Handheld GPS Receiver. It lets
the technician visually inspect hardware and connections
as well as the job site and conditions.
Bryant described how Trimble Assistant works: “I was in
San Antonio when I got a call from a customer working
in Laredo (about 230 km or 145 mi) away. I made the
connection to the customer’s data collector and noticed
they were using the wrong geoid name. I loaded the correct information onto his data collector and everything
was OK.” The entire incident took less than 20 minutes.
Without Trimble Assistant, Bryant’s customer could
have been shut down for hours.
Trimble Assistant helps an organization’s training efforts.
A company can document solutions to common issues
and add them to a custom knowledge base of support
materials. And Trimble Assistant reduces training costs
and downtime by reducing travel by field crews and
trainers. It makes it easy to deliver training sessions to
remote locations, and at flexible times.
Trimble Assistant lets the support technician run diagnostic
routines on the data collector and surveying equipment. If
there’s a problem with the total station or GPS receiver, the
Trimble Assistant reaches users via a multipronged
approach. Large organizations can use the Trimble
Assistant platform as the basis for their internal support
system. Trimble distributors will use it to provide
high-level service to their customers. And individual
Trimble users may subscribe to receive Trimble
Assistant services from their dealers or directly from
Trimble.
Bryant sees Trimble Assistant as the next logical step in
using wireless Internet. It goes hand in hand with GNSS
RTN, where the communications systems are already in
place. “The system is an amazing time saver,” he said.
“Users can minimize downtime and maintain productivity.
As long as you have connection to the Internet, you can get
advice or a second opinion from your own experts.”
See feature article in American Surveyor's August issue:
www.amerisurv.com
Technology&more; 2009-3
-24-
City of Napa
Hydrographic Survey
W
hen California’s City of Napa needed a hydrographic survey near a proposed boat dock on the Napa
River, they knew who to call: James Dickey, PLS, president of Cinquini and Passarino, Inc., had
completed previous hydrographic surveys.
But Dickey didn’t necessarily want to repeat all aspects of that work. “On those jobs,” he explains, “we used an
echo sounder to determine the depth, but we didn’t have any way to integrate the depth and the horizontal
location.” This meant that one man worked a powerboat fitted with the echo sounder, and another remained
on shore to take shots with a total station and record the depth reading as a “rod height.” The process was slow,
prone to transcription errors and the workflow was tedious.
Fortunately, he found an alternative. “I did some research online,” he says, “and noticed that our Trimble TSC2
Controller now has a routine that allows it to be coupled with the Ohmex SonarMite.” The SonarMite is a
Bluetooth-enabled echo sounder that works well in shallow water and with small boats. Using Bluetooth,
Dickey connected a rented SonarMite and his company’s Trimble R8 GPS Receiver to the Trimble TSC2.
This changed everything. Now, using a second Trimble R8 as base station, crew members James Brown, LSIT,
and Erik Vonderscheer could both work in the boat, with one managing speed and direction and the other
tending the equipment. The echo sounder was clamped to the side of the boat and positioned underwater,
with the receiver on a pole directly above it. The Trimble R8 was set to continuous topographic mode; the
SonarMite was set to a two-hertz interval so that it took two shots every second. The TSC2’s collection routine
collected both the water surface elevation and the river bottom depth, along with horizontal coordinates, and
exported all data in a format that worked well with Dickey’s drafting software. Horizontal coordinates were
based on the California Coordinate System of 1983, and elevations were based on NGVD 1929.
Because it was new technology, Dickey made sure to check initial results manually, using a Philly rod, and found
that results were well within tolerance (about a tenth of a foot for this project) even with choppy water. The
City of Napa was certainly pleased. “We’re developing
this area with a new, larger, concrete dock to improve
boat access,” says Napa Senior Civil Engineer Mark A.
Tomko, PE, "and the topographic maps Jim gave us were
just what we needed.”
As for Dickey, he thinks he’s finally found the right way
to do small-scale hydrographic surveys. “I probably
won’t do anything different next time,” he says. “This
saved a lot of time.”
See feature article in POB’s July issue:
www.pobonline.com
-25-
Technology&more; 2009-3
Photo Contest
Enter Trimble’s Technology&more Photo Contest!
The winners of the Trimble Photo Contest
receive Trimble prizes and the photos are
published in Technology&more. This
issue's first place winner is the Surveying
Underground photo submitted by V3
Companies' Survey Technology Manager
Grant Van Bortel. Honorable mention
winners are published on pages 22-23. Send
your photo at 300 dpi resolution (10 x 15 cm
or 4 x 6 in) to Survey_Stories@trimble.com.
Make sure you include your name, title and
contact information.
To subscribe to Technology&more for free, go to: www.trimble.com/t&m
You can also send an email to: T&M_info@trimble.com or call +1-913-338-8270.
You can also view Technology&more online at www.trimble.com.
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