Civil Engineering

Most people associate civil engineers with road and bridge construction; however, there are times when a homeowner or landholder will find they need civil engineering services in CT. In general, civil engineering involves the design, planning, assessment, construction, and oversight of projects involving man-made, and naturally-built environments. From land surveys to structural home inspections, this type of engineer provides an array of residential services.

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There is one issue that seems to come up consistently when discussing the southern border of the United States – where does American end and Mexico start? Fences do line many areas of the border, but at other intersections of the land there is no barrier because of poor planning. Whether or not you agree with the idea of a fence lining our southern border, it must be understood that surveying this area of land is difficult and that many citizens find it hard to deal with.

Continue reading “Stuck on the Border: Surveying the US-Mexico Border” →

Village Developers is currently continuing phase four of Kings Wood on Lofgren Road in Avon, CT with two houses.  Windsor court is also part of phase four which will connect to Scarborough Road. Godfrey-Hoffman & Hodge is providing the surveying and engineering services for this project. We have been working with Village Developers for many years and now that it seems the economy might be turning more new homes should be going up.

This phase was started a couple of years ago with surveying for the road which was roughed in. Catch basins were laid out and installed then the job was put on the back burner waiting for a better housing market.  With these first few houses it’s a positive sign, we will add more as we go.

There is one issue that seems to come up consistently when discussing the southern border of the United States – where does American end and Mexico start? Fences do line many areas of the border, but at other intersections of the land there is no barrier because of poor planning. Whether or not you agree with the idea of a fence lining our southern border, it must be understood that surveying this area of land is difficult and that many citizens find it hard to deal with.

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.”

This winter was one of the worst many parts of the United States have ever seen. During one of the blizzards, snow was actually falling in 49 out of the 50 states, excluding only Florida.  Slowly, as it came closer to warm temperatures and the spring season, many town officials, insurance representatives, land surveyors and civil engineers had to assess how much flooding may occur from the meltdown of the many feet of snow in so many places.  One issue being looked at by government officials were the rules about flood insurance boundaries – when homeowners needed flood insurance and how the new flood zones would be drawn.

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.

Lately, there has been a rash of nasty winter storms unleashing havoc on the roads of Connecticut. This is par for the course in the Northwest, so it’s really no surprise to anyone who has lived up here for longer than a few years. Although snow storms immediately affect most of us by making road conditions difficult, we never really think about how much snow storms affect our sewer systems. As blizzards end and the sun begins to melt snow, the sewers can easily become flooded and overwhelmed by the amount of water surging underground.

The city of New Haven has proposed a controversial measure to deal with the aftermath of storms. According to a story in the New Haven Register, the city has planned a new commission to enforce possible storm taxes:

“The city wants to create a Stormwater Authority, a plan that involves charging a new user fee to homeowners, businesses and nonprofits based on the amount of runoff they generate.

Under the proposed plan, residents would pay a small flat fee, while properties with parking lots and big buildings would pay more. The idea is to switch from a taxpayer-funded system to a user fee-funded system to pay for storm water services such as maintenance, street sweeping, catch basin cleaning and other costs.”

The tax would appropriately tax big corporations and businesses that cause more runoff than regular homes. The article says that the current cost of managing runoff is $2.5 million and apparently this tax would make up for a large amount of that cost.

If this measure passes, it might be wise to hire a CT engineering firm to take a look at your property and find ways to augment the runoff from your business. You might save some money in the long run.