Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates has won 5 Engineering Excellence
Awards from the American Council of Engineering Companies of North
Carolina for the innovative use of GIS technology in the last 5 years.
The following are brief descriptions of some successful GIS projects.
Alamance County, North Carolina
Opened communication between the municipalities in Alamance County
and the County itself. Setup a structure where municipalities and
County could share data easily. Set 82 control monuments for aerial
photography and local surveyors. Mapped approximately 57,000 County
parcels from original hard copy plats into digital format, including
street network using recently acquired aerial photography. Custom
application to retrieve data from outdated database easily and efficiently.
Trained Alamance County staff in the maintenance and further development
of the County GIS.
Camden County, North Carolina
Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates provided GIS mapping services for
the County's parcel layer and water system. In addition, HUA developed
the interface for public web access.
Laurinburg,
North Carolina
Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates provided GIS mapping services for
the town's water and sewer systems. In addition, HUA developed the
interface for public web access.
Beaufort-Jasper Water
and Sewer Authority (BJWSA) - Beaufort, South Carolina
Multicounty surveying/mapping project near Hilton Head, an exclusive
resort coastal area. Project involved Global Positioning System (GPS)
location of over 10,000 water and sewer features to sub-meter accuracy,
including manholes, gate valves, lift stations, water and sewer lines,
and tanks. GPS points files were connected and incorporated into BJWSA's
Geographic Information System, complete with attribute data on each
feature. Also located 25,000 customer service meters and tied this
information back to their utility billing and customer service database.
Orange County Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) - Orange
County, North Carolina
Meter location and mapping project near and around UNC-Chapel Hill.
Project involved a GPS location / assessment of 20,000 customer service
meters. The location of each meter was tied back to their utility
billing and customer service database. The data has allowed multiple
departments access to vital usage and customer information. Also,
the data provides the ability to perform analysis on future water
resource availability and conservation programs.
Beech
Mountain, North Carolina
Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates provided GPS Locating and GIS mapping
services for the town's water and sewer systems. We installed 10 flow
meters, monitored wastewater flows, and generated an Inflow and Infiltration
(I&I) study of the wastewater collection system. A detailed assessment
of all manholes, sewer pipe segments and systems flow metering was
presented to the Town Council to make recommendations for replacements
/ repairs. Each manhole assessment consisted of 4 photographs to capture
the condition of the manhole and information such as invert elevation,
pipe diameter, number of pipes, etc. In addition, we located all water
features including hydrants, gate valves, and tanks. All field data
were uploaded into a GIS database which included a custom interface
for viewing the 4 photographs and manhole assessment.
Camp
Lejeune, North Carolina
HUA has performed multiple GPS survey and GIS mapping projects for
Camp Lejeune. One such project was to locate and perform assessment
on drainage structures in airport pad areas. HUA also mapped and evaluated
8,000 aircraft tie-downs on each pad. The project was delivered in
an AutoCADT drawing with database records attached. The evaluation
led to recommendations of replacement or repair of deficient structures.
HUA also performed GIS mapping services for Camp Lejeune's telephone
infrastructure system. This project required the conversion of approximately
125 AutoCAD drawings to GIS data layers. These layers were needed
for the Base Integrated Geographic Information Repository (IGIR).
Riser points, manholes, repeaters, splices, and line segments were
required to be captured as separate GIS data layers. These layers
were then aligned spatially with existing GIS reference data layers,
such as roads, buildings and orthophotography.
Most recently, HUA performed a base-wide mapping and assessment project
for the water system. The project began by GPS locating to survey-grade
accuracy every water valve and hydrant in the water system. Next,
another HUA field crew followed behind using an iPAQT handheld equipped
with a GPS device and ArcPADT software. As each valve was encountered,
HUA cleaned, exercise and painted every valve. Finally, the condition
and details of the exercise program were recorded in the GIS database
via ArcPADT.
 Chatham
County, North Carolina
HUA mapped the water system utilizing GPS technology. The project
also showed the projected growth of the Chatham County water system,
which allowed the County to look for local water resources. In addition,
the project provided guidance for future land use planning, utilities
planning and allowed cities within Chatham County to use the data
for their planning purposes.
Grifton, North Carolina
Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates provided survey-grade GPS Locating
and GIS mapping services for the town's water and sewer systems. Next,
another HUA field crew followed behind using an iPAQT handheld equipped
with a GPS device, Mavica digital camera and ArcPADT software. Each
manhole was opened, inspected and 4 photographs were captured to confirm
the condition of the manhole and information such as invert elevation,
pipe diameter, number of pipes, etc. All of this information was recorded
in the field using the iPAQT and ArcPADT software. Additionally, another
HUA field crew followed behind using an iPAQT handheld equipped with
a GPS device and ArcPADT software. As each valve was encountered,
HUA cleaned, exercise and painted every valve. Finally, the condition
and details of the exercise program were recorded in the field via
ArcPADT.
Elizabethtown, North Carolina
GPS located all water service meters and linked each location back
to the town's billing system to generate more accurate billing and
customer information. HUA provided a GIS Master Plan to aid in the
future development of their GIS program. All of this data was used
for a FEMA funding award to develop a Hazard Mitigation Plan using
GIS technology. HUA also performed GPS surveys of the town's water
and sewer systems in support of a Geographic Information System database
development project. GIS information is available to the public through
public web access. HUA set up the web server and authored the user
interface to allow the information to be easily accessed by the public.
In 2003, HUA worked with the town to develop an information network
for police officers to access the State of North Carolina's Criminal
Justice Information Network (CJIN) and real-time GPS location and
GIS mapping while traveling in police vehicles. This project received
an Engineering Excellence Honors Award from the American Council of
Engineering Companies of North Carolina for the innovative use of
GIS that exceeded client expectations.
Hoke County, North
Carolina
Designed and installed a high-speed wireless connection between the
administration building and emergency services. Set control monuments
for aerial photography. Mapped approximately 20,000 county parcels
from original hard copy plats into digital format, including street
network using recently acquired aerial photography. Custom application
to retrieve data from the County Tax Database easily and efficiently.
Currently providing maintenance and further development of the County
GIS.
Columbus County Tax Office, North Carolina
Designed and installed a high-speed wireless connection between the
administration building and tax office. Custom application to retrieve
data from the county tax database easily and efficiently. Custom application
to display Columbus County tax cards. Currently providing maintenance
and further development of the County GIS. GIS information is available
to the public through public web access.
Person County,
North Carolina
Custom application to retrieve data from the county tax database easily
and efficiently. Custom application to display Person County tax cards.
GIS information is available to the public through public web access.
Scotland County, North Carolina
Opened communication between the municipalities in Scotland County
and the County itself. Setup a structure where municipalities and
County could share data easily. Set control monuments for aerial photography.
Mapped approximately 23,000 county parcels from original hard copy
plats into digital format, including street network using recently
acquired aerial photography. Custom application to retrieve data from
the County Tax Database easily and efficiently. Currently providing
maintenance and further development of the County GIS.
Fayetteville,
North Carolina
Project to develop population projections, growth analysis and incorporated
engineering data relating to their citywide sewer system in order
to project future flows throughout the region. Using ArcViewT as an
interface to generate the data, we defined areas of deficiency and
developed project schedules for future facilities planning and expansion.
Data was entered into the hydraulic software (XP-SWMMT) via a custom
application that made data integration with the Commission's ArcInfoT
GIS database virtually seamless. The final model scenarios were exported
out of XP-SWMMT and back to the GIS database.
Ft. Bragg,
North Carolina
GPS located and mapped all infrastructure for secured section of entire
facility, including water, sewer, drainage, buildings, roads, fences/natural
boundaries, surveillance cameras, and other fixtures. Installed computer-mapping
system comprised of AutoCADT, ArcGIST and custom software development.
Dedicated one HUA GIS data input specialist to work on-site due to
the input and manipulation of high-security data that could not leave
the compound. Provide current consulting relationship to aid Fort
Bragg in successful use of its mapping System.
Grande
Dunes Resort, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates, P.A. has provided all GIS consulting
services, including the maintenance and updates of all development
master plans, for Burroughs & Chapin, the primary land development
company within the Grand Strand area of South Carolina. The most recent
GIS project completed was for the Grande Dunes Resort in Myrtle Beach.
HUA provided GIS mapping services for the entire development, including
all engineering drawings of the infrastructure systems. The database
created allows Burroughs & Chapin to import new engineering plans
into the database such that the most current development plans are
available.
Horry County, South Carolina
GIS services for the Horry County School Bus Routes. Provided GIS
mapping for school bus route improvements. The project included centerline
mapping updates and address mapping of all students complete with
all pertinent data associated with each student. The project resulted
in the redesign of existing school bus routes to provide more efficient
service and to maximize the safety of each route by minimizing the
number of left-hand turns.
Lancaster County Water and
Sewer District (LCWSD) - Lancaster County, South Carolina
Hydraulic Modeling, GIS Mapping and Master Plan for the Lancaster
County Water & Sewer District for the development of Capital Improvement
Plan. Located, via Global Positioning System technology, all pertinent
water and sewer utility features (manholes, valves, etc.); scanned
as-built drawings and linked to database and vector files; input database
information on water and sewer features such as line sizes, pipe size,
material, assessment of features, and flow ratings on hydrants. Installed
software and performed training. Master Plan and hydraulic model analyzed
demand requirements and available pressures flow projections and needed
upgrades for the county system. Hydraulic model consists of 500 pipes
within the system. Evaluated the requirements for system improvements
including relocation of an existing elevated water tank. Existing
system includes 6 existing water systems that were merged into one
system. Compiled base maps supplied by county, including over 850
individual AutoCAD drawings to create one comprehensive database.
Moore County, North Carolina
Utilized HUA authored software to create system to identify voter
district information by address. Coordinated aerial photography project
for the County in addition to setting ground control panels for orthophotography.
Rural Economic Development Center, North Carolina
Statewide project to develop a database and inventory of water and
sewer features as well as produce statewide coverages of these features
for 48 counties in North Carolina. Project included setting database
standards for the Center of Geographic Information and Analysis (CGIA)
in the inventory process. Involved massive data collection within
each individual district, which was compiled in a fully capable GIS
coverage in ArcInfo format. Maps included such characteristics as
sewer, water, district boundaries, proposed changes and additions
to each utility, water and sewer lines, treatment facilities, tanks,
pump stations, hydrants, etc. Associated database created contained
such information as pipe size, diameter, material type, capacities
and engineers' assessment of current system and recommendations for
future needs with cost estimates. Database was used as a basis of
determining widespread need for funding the eventual development of
the NC Clean Water Bond Act, which allocated over $500 million in
funds for water and sewer improvements statewide. The project provides
electronic maps that are easily accessible to the state in its future
planning efforts, and each individual county.
Chadbourn,
North Carolina
Hobbs, Upchurch & Associates provided survey-grade GPS Locating
and GIS mapping services for the town's water and sewer systems. Next,
another HUA field crew followed behind using an iPAQT handheld equipped
with a GPS device, Mavica digital camera and ArcPADT software. Each
manhole was opened, inspected and 4 photographs were captured to confirm
the condition of the manhole and information such as invert elevation,
pipe diameter, number of pipes, etc. All of this information was recorded
in the field using the iPAQT and ArcPADT software. Additionally, another
HUA field crew followed behind using an iPAQT handheld equipped with
a GPS device and ArcPADT software. As each valve was encountered,
HUA cleaned, exercise and painted every valve. Finally, the condition
and details of the exercise program were recorded in the field via
ArcPADT.
|
