Posts Tagged ‘land surveying’

Frederick Ward Associates Applauds New Miss Utility Law

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

A new Maryland law went into effect October 1, 2010 that deals with how Miss Utility operates. Gov. Martin O’Malley actually signed Senate Bill 911 on May 20, 2010, which updated the Maryland Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Law. This new law is significant for design professionals such as Frederick Ward Associates.

Throughout the history of our industry, Miss Utility would not mark underground utilities for design purposes. The previous law focused on marking of utilities for excavation purposes only. The design profession needed to know where the location and depths are for underground utilities to provide for adequate designs that minimize the impacts to these existing utilities. This information is critical to the design process. And yet, the Miss Utility law previously did not permit markings for design purposes. As a way around this, many design professionals would conveniently arrange for soil borings to be conducted early in the process in order to show an attempt at excavation in order to have these markings take place. This circumvention of the approved processes was frustrating for Miss Utility.

Coupled with this was a federal evaluation on how individual states were performing in “locating and marking underground utilities”. It was reported that Maryland did not score very well in this evaluation. Hence, our state government set out to improve the program in Maryland.

So what does this mean for our design profession? The new law permits markings for the design industry. Now design professionals can contact Miss Utility to obtain a “design ticket” that is valid for 15 days and various utilities will be marked. Better yet, all of this can be tracked via online. This will make the design process much easier and more transparent for professionals like Frederick Ward Associates.

jmettee   Frederick Ward, Surveying
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Virtual Globes Assist in Land Surveying

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

GoogleEarth Virtual Globes Assist in Land Surveying

Google Earth has popularized the concept of virtual globes, and the technology behind them is developing at an astounding pace.

Virtual Globes

These virtual globes, generated by 3D software, are helpful for viewing the existing conditions of properties and allow users to move freely around the properties, changing viewing angle, position, scale and data layers. Within the survey group, we rely on these 3D images as we develop survey budgets because it is a quick way to review the property. Using Google Earth we can determine how difficult or long it may take to traverse around the perimeter with our lines of sight due to the amount of foliage. Also, we can use it to determine the magnitude of improvements that will need to be located, i.e. fields, building, fences, parking lots, roads, etc.

Surveying Using 3D Images

When it comes time to actually execute the survey operations, these 3D images aid in communicating with the staff the scope of the project through visual representation. Additionally, these 3D images help us to identify possession lines and give clues on where to look for markers when performing boundary surveys and needing to recover boundary markers. While some will say that 3D images are not accurate enough yet, they can be a definite aid and tool to the surveyor who is inclined to use them, and the quality of high-resolution imagery is both substantial and growing on a rapid basis.


jmettee   Surveying
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The Role of Maryland Board for Professional Land Surveyors

Friday, July 9th, 2010

We recently let you know that our very own John Mettee was appointed Chairman of the Maryland Board of Professional Land Surveyors. This organization is important to the general public in Maryland, considering the Board qualifies and licenses anyone seeking to practice as a professional land surveyor.  This Board regulates the land survey profession and its reason for being is to protect the health, safety and welfare of Maryland consumers.  In carrying out this duty, the Board reviews applicants, administers exams to those who qualify, enforces minimum standards of practice, and confirms “continuing professional competency” (CPC) at license renewals.

The Professional Land Surveyor Licensing Exam

In order to assist applicants with their application process, the Board directed and supported another organization (The Maryland Society of Surveyors) with development of the “Mentoring Program.”  The Mentoring Program pairs applicants with licensed surveyors. These surveyors act as mentors, enabling applicants to understand and fulfill exam requirements. This program helps applicants establish a file with the Board to compile credentials. In other words, applicants don’t have to wait until the application for licensure filing to try and get references from each past employer.

The Maryland Society of Surveyors: Seminars and Networking Opportunities

Vince Burke and Bob Banzhoff of the Maryland Society of Surveyors are offering seminars to applications. These meetings offer a great chance for applicants to meet mentors, as well as learning about the application process and programs.

Visit the Maryland Society of Surveyors for more information on the Mentoring and Portfolio Building Programs.

jmettee   Surveying
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Land Surveying Equipment

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

surveyors Land Surveying Equipment

The role of technology in surveying, as in all business, has become increasingly important over the last few years. What does this mean for us?  A lot.

About ten years ago, I wrote an article for the ACSM Bulletin about using integrating technology into everyday surveying.  At that time, FWA was “convinced that GPS technology is for the every day surveyor and should already be included in his or her ‘tool box’”. I found that accuracy and productivity increased, saving both time and money. However, at the time, it wasn’t something that everyone had adopted.

Well, technology has grown and expanded over these past ten years, and we are more sure than ever that it must have its place in a surveyor’s tool box. The old school ways of map tables and alidades have stepped aside for the computer and laser revolution. Landsurveyors.com says that to be truly competitive, surveyors must embrace new technologies. Federal law may even require it. The old school ways have moved over for the computer and laser revolution.

Technology is great for us. It continues to make our work more accurate and efficient. It helps us communicate our findings to our clients much faster and easier. It even lets us write about our findings here. So embrace it, we will.

Read more about changing technologies in surveying.

jmettee   Infrastructure, Surveying
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