All posts by Vivienne Wallace

Scottish surveyor Stuart Ross on the job and on the other side of the camera.

Ongoing Adventure

Mini-hydro surveying is wet, wild, and wonder-filled in the Scottish Highlands. When Scottish surveyor Stuart Ross heads to the Highlands to survey for one of the region’s many small-scale hydro schemes (mini-hydro), he always packs his camera. When the rain stops and the sky clears, he wants to capture the view, not just the data. ...

CADS Survey used two total stations facing each other to ensure that both ends of the 1.3-mile-long jetty met in the middle; this total station provided 1-cm accuracy when measuring from caisson to caisson.

Stretching Surveyors across the Water

Surveying the Gorgon Jetty Project on Barrow Island off Western Australia involved integrating structural, mechanical, and hydrographic surveying technologies and skills.  Barrow Island is described by some as Australia’s answer to the Galapagos Islands. The 202 km2 (78 mi2) island and its surrounding ocean are home to diverse and unique fauna, including marsupials, reptiles, sea...

Chris McFadzean and colleague Lisa Irving with the Trimble UX5 UAS.

1,500+ Flights

Can an owner/operator sustain a thriving business using only UAS? It’s happening in New Zealand with orthophotography of farmland. After little more than four years in the orthophotographic business, Chris McFadzean, owner/operator of Epiphany Mapping in New Zealand, has logged more than 1,500 UAS flights. This makes him one of the most experienced UAS pilots...

Reed Sutter, support manager for automated meter infrastructure (AMI) and advanced meter reading (AMR) for SL-serco maps infrastructure at a water supply facility.

A Mapping App for Utility Assets

How a service provider for utilities implemented a mobile app to clock up efficiencies in advanced meter systems. Editor’s note: Mobile apps for asset mapping and mobile data management went from “new-cool” to essential in just a few years. In our April issue (see Mapping Peripheral) we tested a peripheral device that can add precision...