Project Summary
New Zealand firm Tomlinson and Carruthers Surveyors Ltd has been in operation
for over 55 years. It operates in the Wairarapa region (approximately 100km
north-east of Wellington) and covers a radius of about 150km around its
Masterton office.
Traditionally, cadastral surveying has been the firm’s
main focus but in recent times Tomlinson and Carruthers has branched out into
more extensive roading, engineering and subdivision designs.
The Challenge
Surveyor Derek Roberts said, “I think the engineering design work we’re now
doing is increasing due to a buoyant and expanding industry, combined with new
staff and a new curriculum in the New Zealand Surveying degree that has covered
changing technology such as using 12d Model and GPS.”
“For example, 12d
Model was used extensively on a recent project in the northern end of Masterton,
near a big roundabout on the way out of town. The land concerned is known as
‘the horseshoe’, which was part of a significant local car park.”
“The
project started as a straightforward two-lot subdivision to provide a
council-owned car park with the balance remaining in private ownership. On
closer inspection it was found that a larger than normal percentage of the land
was actually being utilised as road. To formalise the situation these areas were
vested as road in the ownership of the Local District Council. The back of the
footpath was used to define the inside lot boundary with the outside being the
existing Certificate of Title boundary (road carriageway). In conjunction with
this, to the south-west there is part of a river with an open stream flowing
through the area. The stream actually forms a natural boundary which we picked
up to be compared with the underlying data in preparation for a future project.”
The Solution
“We did absolutely everything in 12d Model for this job, including creating all
cadastral data, design, CAD and plotting. We started by creating our scheme plan
(plan of proposal) in 12d which was plotted out and used as part of the
application, and then survey pre-calcs were completed within 12d before visiting
the site. This information was uploaded into the GPS unit directly from 12d, so
when on site we were able to walk directly onto these marks via coordinates
rather than having to use conventional methods. This in particular has meant a
huge saving in time and also given us a different approach to the majority of
our jobs.”
“The information gathered by GPS and also conventional
instruments was then downloaded into 12d Model. This data was used to form the
basis of the 12d traverse spread sheets through which the majority of the
linework for the title and survey plans was prepared and submitted on A2 litho
paper. As this project was done using GPS, we also had to use the transformation
functions to work out and apply the appropriate scale factors. Using GPS
combined with 12d Model’s interface for processing pre- and postdata has
probably halved the time required on site. A project of this nature would take
approximately two weeks’ worth of work spread over the different stages,
including about three days in the field and five days’ worth of calculations and
drafting. This is phenomenal compared with the time it would have taken using
conventional methods!”
“For Tomlinson and Carruthers, the major benefits
of using 12d on this and similar projects have come from the 12d traverse spread
sheet – in particular the way it does all the line work, point symbols and
annotation of the plan all at once. This has the advantage over other software
because 12d is able to calculate and annotate the true information rather than
just the projected information.”
“Once the information is in the 12d
traverse spread sheet, the drafting is done automatically. This means the
potential for human error – which occurs mainly with reading and writing at the
different stages – is kept to a minimum while the whole process is simplified
and sped up. We are finding that using 12d Model in conjunction with GPS is
saving us around 30-50% of our time spent on this and other projects. 12d’s
ability to reduce errors has served us well, particularly with the use of GPS
and electronic data recorders. Though you can never beat independent checks, the
Traverse Spread Sheet Drafting has removed one of the more difficult areas to
police.”
The Result
“Luckily, we have found that the training curve for 12d is
very small, even for those with minimal CAD experience. For new users of 12d,
probably half the learning time has been spent gaining an understanding of
survey calculation methods rather than of 12d itself. Ease of learning was
particularly facilitated by the ability to set up default files and screens to
standardise procedures throughout the office and the whole firm.”
“Being
a former SDR Map user, I found the 12d traverse spread sheet very appealing and
easy to use overall. 12d has really revolutionised our methods and our approach
to the majority of our projects!”
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