Hodge LLC. has been working at St. Patrick’s over the last few years completing boundary, topographic surveys as well as locating the buildings, parking lot, trees and all physical features on the site. The main building was built in 1921 with several newer additions. The information gathered by us will be used by the engineers to design much needed parking. Also on the property is an old house that is to be rehabbed along with a new driveway which will serve as the new rectory.
The merger between two of the top land surveying and civil engineer companies in Connecticut is a great thing. But what does that mean for you, the client? Well, simply put, it means winning project approvals quickly and accurately offering customers cost effective ways to move projects forward without headaches or hassle.
Combining GHA and Hodge also grants customers expanded capabilities, statewide coverage, increased responsiveness, greater depth of knowledge and experience to win approvals and also meet land project objectives. The main reason for the merger is growth that will benefit our clients directly, not about a bigger company that will cost you more. We, as a combined company, are better prepared to be a one stop shop for your civil engineering and land surveying needs, and that’s what counts.
Throughout the spring and summer of 2011, Godfrey-Hoffman Associates, LLC has been involved in the construction of a state of the art Science Center at The Foote School in New Haven, Ct. Chapel Construction of New Haven, the general contractor and a longtime client of GHA, hired us to provide “on call” survey and layout services. From the initial layout for excavation, to pier layout, to the final retaining wall stakeout, GHA and Chapel worked together to meet scheduling deadlines and to provide a continuous flow of work for excavators and concrete crews. Challenges that arose were met and worked through in a professional manner that reflected highly on the personnel involved.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a leading organization in the standards of land, property and construction, released the results of some land surveying that found that the land under our feet is being polluted at a faster rate than some would have us believe. The only way to maintain any sense of sustainability is to begin going green in all aspects of life.
There are many ways to help stop the pollution that is affecting the land. Here are a few ways to do so:
• Unplug your portable electronic chargers when not in use
• Buy eco-friendly rated appliances that save on overall electricity usage
• If you remove trees from your property, make sure to replant trees or other plants in their place.
• Turn off the water as often as possible when completing daily activities like washing dishes and brushing your teeth.
This kind of study sheds light on the importance of land surveying in the fight against pollution and other harmful environmental concerns. The depth with which surveyors can investigate particular swatches of land is crucial to the survival of our world and its atmosphere.
In the past, the instruments used to survey land were simpler in design, but harder to use in practice. These included chains, solar compasses and compasses. For instance, chains with a specified size linkage would be used to measure distances from point to point, while compasses would determine the distance of that line.
As time progressed, newer technologies were developed to remove some of the manual calculations needed to progress with surveying. One such tool is called a planimeter – planimeters measure asymmetrical land eliminating the need for charts and manual calculations.
One of the main tools used by land surveyors today is a gadget that is also quite prominent in the lives (and cars) of millions of people – the GPS system. A GPS (or global positioning system) works with satellites that scan the earth from space and very accurately graph the view and transmit it into data to view on the small GPS or computer screen for surveyors to look at. The only downside to GPS systems is the difficulty they have reading land coordinates in dense forest area and the surroundings of concrete structures.
Of course, there are hundreds of other tools that land surveyors use on a regular basis, but these few examples should give you a good idea into how these people do their jobs.
If you haven’t seen this already, it’s a great show on the History Channel called “How the States Got their Shapes”, and it is worth watching an episode. Filled with interesting facts and interviews, the show focuses on a surveyor trying to re-trace the footsteps of the famous surveyors Mason & Dixon. Click here for more information.That is, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, has become a major concern for people living on the border whose land has not been surveyed correctly:
“The Homeland Security Department last year put up a tall steel barrier across the fields from [Pamela] Taylor’s home. The government calls it the border fence, but it was erected about a quarter-mile north of the Rio Grande, leaving Taylor’s home between the fence and the river. Her two acres now lie on a strip of land that isn’t Mexico but doesn’t really seem like the United States either.”
The issue is one of security for Taylor, according to the article, but it’s also about knowing where her land lies. With part of America and part of Mexico in her backyard, Taylor’s land is technically in a precarious no man’s land. This occurred because of poor planning by civil engineers and land surveyors.
“But here, where the border’s eastern edge meets the Gulf of Mexico, the urgency of national security met headlong with geographical reality. The Rio Grande twists through Brownsville and surrounding areas, and planners had to avoid building on the flood plain. So the barriers in some places went up more than a mile from the river.While the border fence almost everywhere else divides Mexico and the U.S., here it divides parts of the city.”
Thankfully, a congressman from Michigan was looking out for citizens located in precarious areas, according to a report from WILX:
“In a town hall meeting, Congressman Tim Walberg told Michiganders he introduced a new bill, the Floodplain Maps Moratorium Act. The bill would delay homeowners in newly drawn flood zones from having to purchase flood insurance for five years. “It appears they are in great error and people that never had to purchase flood insurance now have to do that at a great cost,” said Rep. Tim Walberg, (R) Michigan.”
Even though the new law and flood zones drawn by surveyors have made the matter of getting flood insurance easier for citizens, some still aren’t happy with what seems like forced insurance:
“One commissioner [sic] of Eaton County now finds his home to be in a new flood zone, meaning it has a 26 percent chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage. The commissioner says all but one of the 22 municipalities in Eaton County are negatively affected by the new maps.
FEMA declined to comment on the propsed [sic] legislation. But a state engineer that works with FEMA says the new maps are more accurate. But in some areas, such as Eaton County, the elevation on the topographic map were drawn to 10 foot contour intervals and could be more precise.”
It still stands to be seen whether or not this law will go into effect, but this story shows how important the zoning plans that land surveyors make can be.
