FIRST PHASE MAPPING
The local consulting firm, Environmental Science
Services, Inc. (Es²) was enlisted to help create the
new enterprise GIS. "We were able to do heads-up
digitizing of much of the rail infrastructure with digital
orthophotos," said Andrew Milanes, PE, GISP, president
of Es². "But by the time we digitized paper maps and
merged this with features gathered from aerial photos,
we would find a lot of uncertainty in the data. Field
mapping was the only way we could be sure." And for Es²,
that meant using the Trimble R2 GNSS Rover.
MAPPING KIT
Port NOLA has been quite pleased with this first mapping
phase and has recently put out a request for proposal
Rapidly mapping all of the expansion joints of the Huey P. Long bridge was done by mounting Trimble R2 rover on a high-track truck. Real-time
corrections from the local VRS network yielded accurate locations, and the rover performed well despite the obscured sky view through the
iron structure.
Brennon Albarez (left), field technician, and Andrew Milanes (center),
president of Es², consultants for the mapping pilot with Maggie Cloos
(right), Port NOLA GIS manager on the railroad portion of the Huey P.
Long Bridge over the Mississippi River. The team collected fixed asset
features for the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, such as rail line
expansion joints and signals, using a Trimble R2 and T10 tablet with
Esri Collector.
