Terrametrix just completed traveling 25,000 miles for projects and marketing this summer. As we drive throughout the United States I often wonder what the early pioneers would think of 21st century mobility. I imagine they would be as impressed with the speed as I am when I reminisce about surveying with chains for months compared to driving a project in a matter of minutes. The scenery passes more quickly for us today, we are able to visit more areas, but we aren’t really experiencing the sites as our forefathers did. Imagine the prospect of untouched land and virgin territory surveyors before us endured, admired, respected. I do miss the nature I experienced as I documented topography.
Interstate mile after interstate mile I can’t help notice the condition of our nation’s infrastructure. The deterioration of bridges and surface pavement , no doubt, is gaining over the construction projects our scan vehicle slows to accommodate. Some things you instinctively notice because you are a surveyor. Even with all the travel I am able to maintain a home life but my profession somehow creeps in. For instance, the other day while shopping with the family, I found myself counting paces from store to store. Then, at my sons football game I was contemplating slope stakes of the hill side bleachers. Now, as 3D mobile scanning shapes my persona, driving across the nation, I see points instead of bridges and DTMs instead of road surfaces. I remember how impressed I was with the Droid phone that had an application for constellation location, similar to the old star shots we used to take for Geodetic surveying. Today, my constellations are reflective triangulation networks while driving at night! Spatial recognition will always be part of a surveyor’s character.
I also enjoy the safety of being in the truck opposed to years of surveying in traffic. I still even envision the scan plan we used for static scanners which now with mobile collection includes traffic flow and speed limits. It truly is a world of technology and there’s a give and take in any profession as it advances. Old field stories and habits will forever be a part of us. The smart surveyor will learn to apply his instincts into new markets and leverage the technology.
As Terrametrix plans it’s next trip across the country in our new vehicle equipped with blue tooth, internet and the StreetMapper scan system, I will constantly be reminded what an undertaking it was for those before us as they surveyed for the nation’s infrastructure. Like anything of age, it is up to the current professionals to seek ways to maintain and preserve their efforts. Technological and societal advancements like the expanded use of computers, satellites and mobile mapping to determine precise geographical locations, reflect the increasing perplexity of the land surveyor’s skills as an integral part in the continued development of the United States. We have been challenged to respond to the unprecedented undertaking of updating our nation’s railroads, bridges and highways. I am proud to be part of the new survey technology solution.
