Witt places the 3M 1400 Series EMS iD Ball Marker in a water main trench to mark the pipe route before backfilling.
Click here to enlarge imageCharlotte County uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping for utility resource management. Information from the ID marker locators is downloaded at the end of each workday and added to the GIS database, reflecting work completed. According to Cain, as GPS data for individual markers is collected in the field, marker longitude and latitude coordinates will be added to a new layer in the GIS mapping database.
Cain notes that GPS data will also be valuable for facilities drawings prepared by the organization’s CAD department. Recorded marker coordinates can be used to auto-create points for the CAD system, resulting in precise and complete as-built drawings.
This paperless, electronic approach to pipeline records will reduce the possibility of error and speed the process of creating and updating CAD pipeline information. He anticipates a 75% reduction in recordkeeping time with GPS input compared to conventional surveys and hand-marking of prints in the field. Field records will include pipe location details as well as full feature attribute data, allowing for rapid search and identification of specified features in particular sections of the water/sewer pipeline network. Predictive and preventive pipeline maintenance work is expected to benefit greatly from this improved level of data accuracy and access.
Cain said the mapping-grade GPS receivers have a positional accuracy of approximately one meter while less costly consumer grade units have a resolution of around three meters. This lower value is sufficient for useful mapping in conjunction with utility markers because once GPS coordinates get the technician close to the marker, a marker locator can pinpoint the buried marker with such accuracy that the ball can be dependably excavated with a post-hole digger.
Cain is currently adopting satellite positioning with the use of inexpensive GPS receivers having sufficient memory to handle the marker data and coordinates and pairing them with 3M marker locator devices. The two devices will communicate in a standard data format by means of an RS-232 connection. In addition to mapping support, this data will be useful for spreadsheet and sortable database applications. Cain expects this new level of detail to improve the efficiency of utility maintenance scheduling and field work.
“For day-to-day maintenance work an operator will be able to scan stored waypoints in the GPS unit to reach the vicinity of a marker of interest and then click on that item to confirm what is at the location,” Cain said. “This will be a useful orientation tool in preparation for digging to reach a pipe or pipe feature or to establish a bearing in order to locate something else.
“With the new GPS-supported underground marking technology, just one person will be able to handle field mapping in a single step during our pipeline infrastructure expansion, placing markers, programming pertinent data in the marker, recording its GPS coordinates, and creating a downloadable record of the day’s work as pipe is laid,” Cain said. “Mapping work will be accomplished on the fly, so there will be no need to return to that location at a later time.”
The demand for new pipeline construction and underground marking in Charlotte County currently takes precedence over marking older, established pipes and pipeline features, and it may be some time before all of the area’s water and sewer facilities are fully marked, Cain said. In the meantime, GPS marker mapping will give maintenance crews the ability to plan ahead, scheduling more time for work to be done in those areas where markers have not yet been placed.
The digital nature of marker and GPS pipeline records will make it possible to frequently update maps that are stored on laptops used in the field by means of wireless or plug-and-sync connections at the end of a shift. In this manner, working crews will have timely access to maps that include details of work done as recently as the previous day.