Surveying for Electric Transmission Lines
Topographic has been providing land surveying services for the construction of electric transmission lines for more than thirty years. Although John Keating’s focus in the early years was providing surveying services to oil and gas companies, his service offering expanded as his company matured. By 1975, Topographic was taking on the difficult surveying challenges of electric transmission line construction in the dense woods of east Texas. Our experienced surveyors and their crews were also tested in similar terrain in Louisiana. As early as the late 1970’s, Topographic was working very hard to use new technology to do a better job of surveying for our utility customers. In those days, EDM’s (Electronic Distance Measuring devices) were just beginning to be used, and we used them to set project control and establish centerline PI’s. We also applied computer technology, digitizers, and USGS topographic maps to the problems created by the difficult conditions of this terrain. We used digitized coordinates from identifiable points on USGS topographic maps along with descriptions of land parcels to piece together the puzzle that was the land ownership of those projects. Those procedures are commonplace and expected today. In the late 1970’s, they were cutting edge. Today, our crews all use survey-grade GPS receivers, electronic data loggers, data dictionaries, total stations and other advanced equipment to perform their work. However, the basic requirements of our customers are still very much the same. They still need preliminary surveys to help determine their route and the ownership of the land. To design the power line and determine the placement of their towers, they need accurate plan and profile sheets. Our customers need property surveys and accurate descriptions of the right-of-way for each tract. They need signed and certified property plats showing those rights-of-way, and they need them on time. Once the designs are completed, our customers need experienced survey crews in the field for centerline and tower-site construction staking. The plats we deliver to our customers have changed but not all that much. How we create those plats has changed a lot, with digital files from the field, COGO and CAD software in the office. Using today’s technology, we are faster, more accurate, and more efficient both for our work in the field and for our work in the office. We have Professional Surveyors on staff licensed to work in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kansas, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Washington. We have relationships with other licensed surveyors who are authorized to work in many other states. If delivery of the data in specialized formats is required, GIS services are available to our clients through Topographic Mapping Company. (Please see “GIS” on the Topographic.com home page.) Whether your electric transmission line project is crossing the wide-open spaces of west Texas, the wind-swept plains of Oklahoma, or the forested mountains of Arkansas, Topographic would like to be your surveying partner.
|