xyHt - March 2024

SUR VE YI N G AN D M APPING, EL E VAT ED

MARCH 2024

SURVEYING DIGITAL TWINS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE UAVs

Construction of Vienna's aspern Seestadt paves the way for nextgeneration cities

INSIDE 12 AI in Construction 16 Beneath New Zealand 20 Drone Safety

CONTENTS

MARCH 2024 xyHt [ISSN 2373-7018 (print), ISSN 2373-7735 (online), CPC CPM No. 41437548] is free upon request to qualified subscribers in the United States. The Canadian subscription rate is US $20/year. The International subscription rate is US $40/ year. Periodicals postage paid at Frederick, MD and additional post offices. xyHt is published 10 months a year by xyHt LLC, 6 N. East Street, Frederick, MD 21701.

POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to: xyHt Subscriptions, 6 N. East Street, Frederick, MD 21701. Send Canadian changes of address to: Box 697 STN A, Windsor, ON N9A 6N4, Canada. For advertising, editorial, or other information, write to xyHt LLC, Inc. or call 301-662-8171.

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Looking Forward

By Jeff Thoreson

6 LOCATED

FEATURES

MORE

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LIDAR UNCOVERS ANCIENT CITY GNSS OUTLOOK LOOKS STRONG MAPPING MARTIAN WATER

Drone Safety

NEW PRODUCTS/NEW SOLUTIONS

Artificial Intelligence in Construction

The construction industry is changing to accommodate artificial intelligence, but it’s not going to replace jobs. The key for workers is to understand and use the technology. Those who can will be the ones to excel.

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SUR VE YING

AND MAP

PING , ELE

VAT ED

SURVEYING S CE DIGITAL TWIN INTELLIGEN ARTIFICIAL UAVs

Following the collision between a helicopter and a drone in Florida, we must take a close look at the importance of rules and conduct when flying small drones for mapping.

22 Questions & Answers

In an interview with xyHt, Smartbuild founder Zulq Malik talks about the things artificial intelligence can bring to the industry, and what it cannot—at least not yet.

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25 Vienna Isn’t Waiting for Anyone 's Vienna ction of s Constru estadt pave Se aspern xty for ne the wa n cities tio ra gene

INSIDE ction in Constru 12 AI New Zealand eath 16 Ben Safety ne 20 Dro

ON THE COVER: In Vienna, Austria, the

aspern Seestadt development is being built to incorporate modern urban life into the ancient city.

Beneath New Zealand The tools and resources for mapping underground infrastructure are rapidly evolving, but to keep up we must change our mindset of underground utility mapping.

The new aspern Seestadt urban development project is moving the city of Vienna into the future and paving the way for cities around the world to follow suit.

30 Legal Boundaries

Jeff Lucas takes a look at the schizophrenic relationship between the land surveying profession and property rights.

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Looking Forward

By Jeff Thoreson

AI and Construction

March 2024 Volume 11 Number 2 Publisher Editor-in-Chief

Jeff Thoreson jeff.thoreson@xyht.com

Director of Sales and Business Development

Chuck Boteler chuck.boteler@xyht.com

Creative Director

Ian Sager ian.sager@xyht.com

Accounting and Classifieds

Angie Duman angie.duman@xyht.com

Circulation

subscriptions@xyht.com Phone: 301-662-8171

Editor, Located

Jeff Salmon jeff.salmon@xyht.com

Editor, Field Notes

Eric Gladhill eric.gladhill@xyht.com

Contributing Writers

HERE’S A NEWS FLASH: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS A THING. It has crept into many facets of our lives and businesses, and this month in our annual issue focusing on construction we look at how it is changing that industry.

Nathan Patton, one of xyHt’s 22 Young Geospatial Professionals to Watch in 2022, writes a particularly insightful piece for us this month, exploring AI's impact on construction and the industry's workforce.

Shawn Dewees shawn.dewees@xyht.com

Jonathan Barnes Marc Delgado Brooks Patrick Nathan Patton Juan Plaza Gavin Schrock

Copyright © 2024 xyHt magazine. Printed in U.S.A. No material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material, the accuracy of information supplied by manufacturers, or opinions expressed by contributors.

Also, contributor Jonathan Barnes has an in-depth question-and-answer session with the developer of a construction project management software platform who takes a deep dive into AI, construction, and profits. Esri's Brooks Patrick writes an interesting story about an urban development construction project in Vienna that is paving the way for futuristic cities around the world.

Partners and Affiliates

AI is and will continue to mean smarter equipment, better project management, enhanced safety, improved communication and quality control, and optimized design. But there are many challenges ahead with AI in construction, and let’s not race blindly into this new frontier.

Like all new technologies, caution and patience are important virtues on the way to full implementation. Maybe you’re old enough to remember the first cell phones. It seems like we all rushed out to get one only to find out that the networks weren’t fully developed calls were dropped, or never completed, routinely, and sometimes problems outnumbered solutions.

THE

IMAGING & GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SOCIETY

There are similar challenges with AI. But it will evolve and change the construction industry—and every geospatial industry.

Enjoy the issue.

JT

­– JT

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Send your Located items to located@xyht.com

Located

Compiled by Jeff Salmon

Mapping Your World | UAV/UAS | Space | New Products

GNSS Outlook Remains Confident IT’S BOOM TIME FOR THE GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM (GNSS) INDUSTRY. According to the EO and GNSS Market Report published by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) in January, the satellite navigation business is set to grow more than two-fold by 2033 as it rides on surging revenues from sales and services of GNSS-based commercial devices. Most of the growth, forecasted to rise from €260 billion in 2023 ($280 billion) to nearly €580 billion ($626 billion) in 2033, will come from consumer products such as smartphones, wearable health devices, and personal road navigation products that use real-time geo-location data from GNSS satellites.

Meanwhile, sectors that depend on mapping and surveying services, such as urban development, agriculture, and forestry, as

well as infrastructure and construction, will continue to flourish as the GNSS market matures toward the end of this decade. The report also provides an assessment of the market for Earth Observation (EO) data and services, which includes satellite remote sensing and imaging technologies.

“The EUSPA has a well-earned reputation for being a trusted provider of insightful information and expertise that policymakers, entrepreneurs, and major corporations can rely on,” said Rodrigo da Costa, EUSPA’s executive director. “This flagship report is the most established reference document for information on the global Earth Observation and GNSS markets.” Read the report from the EUSPA website at www.euspa.europa.eu.

—Marc Delgado, marc.delgado@xyht.com

Phase One’s PAS 880i Revolutionizes Slovenian Urban Planning FLYCOM TECHNOLOGIES IS A LEADING SLOVENIAN REMOTE SENSING AND GIS COMPANY. When Slovenia’s Surveying and Mapping Authority needed oblique imagery for a better overview of selected cities and suburbs, Flycom offered a powerful solution for the project, the Phase One 880i Oblique Camera System.

Saving time and being cost effective were a key concern for Slovenia’s surveying and mapping authority Geodetska uprava Republike Slovenije (GURS) when it started the project to map the Ljubljana, Bled, and Murska Sobota municipalities. The objective was to obtain photographs in three different geometric resolutions at each of the locations.

The PAS 880i, with its high ground resolution resulting in short flying hours along with low data processing costs, gave Flycom and GURS a very efficient all-in-one solution for 3D city modelling.

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Lidar Uncovers Massive Ancient City in Amazon: THANKS TO AERIAL LIDAR SURVEYING, A HUGE ANCIENT CITY HAS BEEN UNCOVERED in the Amazon, unseen for thousands of years due to lush vegetation. While the discovery of ancient ruins in eastern Ecuador, or anywhere on the planet, isn’t news, the overall scale of the finding is.

Cities in the highlands of South America, like Machu Picchu in Peru, have been known of for some time, and it was believed that people in the Amazon basin only lived nomadically or in tiny settlements.

“This is older than any other site we know in the Amazon. We have a Eurocentric view of civilization, but this shows we have to change our idea about what is culture and civilization,” says Dr. Stephen Rostain, director of investigation at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France, who led the research.

“It changes the way we see Amazonian cultures,” says co-author Antoine Dorison. “Most people picture small groups, probably naked, living in huts and clearing land. This shows ancient people lived in complicated urban societies.”

Archaeologists combined ground excavations with a survey of a 300 square kilometers (116 square miles) area using airborne lidar to identify remains of the city beneath the dense plants and trees. Lidar technology found 6,000 rectangular platforms measuring about 20 meters (66 feet) by 10 meters (33 feet) and two to three meters high. A network of straight roads and paths connected many of the platforms, including one that extended 25 kilometers (16 miles). Dorison said these roads were the most outstanding part of the research.

“The road network is very sophisticated. It extends over a vast distance, everything is connected. And there are right angles, which is very impressive,” he says, explaining that it is much harder to build a straight road than one that fits in with the landscape. The scientists also identified causeways with ditches on either side which they believe were canals that helped manage the abundant water in the region.

TopGIS Elevates 3D Visualization Capabilities LEADING CZECH GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGY FIRM, TOPGIS, has reinforced its commitment to delivering cutting-edge 3D interactive city visualizations with the recent acquisition of the UltraCam Osprey 4.1 from Vexcel Imaging.

With the UltraCam Osprey 4.1, TopGIS aims to obtain higher quality data

and the ability to document greater detail. The strategic move to incorporate the UltraCam Osprey 4.1 aligns with the evolving landscape of 3D worlds and digital twins. The shift toward widespread oblique imaging reinforces the significance of using cutting-edge technology.

Zing’s New Affordable Drone RID Module Ships This Month

Hexagon Introduces Reality Cloud Studio

FLORIDA-BASED ZING DRONE SOLUTIONS IS MAKING FAA REMOTE ID COMPLIANCE more accessible for drone pilots with the launch of an affordable broadcast module.

Zing’s Z-RID Lite has been announced at an introductory launch price of $84.99, which makes it more affordable than most other solutions available in the market today.

The FAA’s Remote ID Compliance rule caught many drone pilots unaware, forcing them to retrofit their drones with RID modules to comply. This can be an expensive process, especially for commercial UAV fleet operators, who are required to have separate individual RID modules for each craft. Recreational flyers are allowed to share one RID with multiple UAVs.

REALITY CLOUD STUDIO IS HEXAGON’S FIRST REALITY CAPTURE SOFTWARE as a Service (SaaS). Built on the Hexagon Digital Reality (HxDR) cloud platform, Reality Cloud Studio represents five years of active development to create the most ambitious point cloud management, visualization, collaboration, and storage service ever conceived.

It is a cloud-based application for reality capture data storage, automated processing, immersive visualization, and up-to-date collaboration. It is a seamless way to work with your reality capture data in the cloud with a simple, browser-based UI.

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EVENTS Xponential April 22-25 San Diego, CA

Robotic Excavator Landscapes and Builds Stone Walls EXCAVATORS ARE DEPENDABLE GRUBBERS IN CONSTRUCTION SITES. But there is a shortage of skilled workers who can operate them and other heavy machinery as the construction sector enters another period of labor shortfall. So how about turning to robots to increase productivity?

Researchers at ETH Zürich in Switzerland are doing just that with their 12-ton autonomous excavating machine. Nicknamed HEAP (hydraulic excavator for an autonomous purpose), this unmanned machinery relies on GNSS for localization, while lidar sensors and cameras that are mounted in the cabin and arm of the vehicle scan, digitize and segment images to help it manipulate stones and move earth.

In an experiment published in the journal Science Robotics, HEAP was able to construct a freestanding stone wall and a permanent retaining wall, as well as excavate free-form embankments with high precision.

“Construction sites are complex environments with many unpredictable events that will continue to be a challenge for robotic solutions,” said Ryan Johns, the main author of the study, in an interview with AAAS News. “Robots will need humans to conduct and correct them, but they nonetheless carry the potential to amplify the productivity of workers by facilitating efficient multitasking.”

— Marc Delgado, marc.delgado@xyht.com

Geospatial World Forum May 13-16 Rotterdam, Netherlands Canadian Hydrographic Conference May 27-30 St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Esri User Conference July 15-19 San Diego, CA Commercial UAV Expo September 3-5 Las Vegas, NV Intergeo September 24-26 Stuttgart, Germany Trimble Dimensions November 11-13 Las Vegas, NV

Mapping Martian Water, Part Two: A Major Discovery IN LAST MONTH'S ISSUE, THE SUBJECT OF MAPPING WATER on Mars was detailed. Now comes big news from the European Space Agency (ESA). An ESA probe has found enough water to cover Mars in an ocean between 4.9 and 8.9 feet (1.5 and 2.7 meters) deep, buried in the form of dusty ice beneath the planet’s equator.

The finding was made by ESA’s Mars Express mission, a veteran spacecraft that has been engaged in science operations around Mars for 20 years. While it’s not the first time evidence for ice has been found near the Red Planet’s equator, this new discovery is by far the largest amount of water

ice detected there so far and appears to match previous discoveries of frozen water on Mars.

The deposits are thick, extended 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles) underground, and topped by a crust of hardened ash and dry dust hundreds of meters thick. The ice is not a pure block but is heavily contaminated by dust. While its presence near the equator is a location more easily accessible to future crewed missions, being buried so deep means that accessing the water-ice would be difficult.

Fototerra Expands Fleet of Airborne Lidar TELEDYNE GEOSPATIAL HAS ANNOUNCED THE DELIVERY of an Optech Galaxy PRIME to Fototerra. Serving both North and South America, the aerospace and service company specializes in airborne remote sensing services, geographic data acquisition, high-resolution photogrammetry, hyperspectral data acquisition, and GIS applications. This is Fototerra’s second Galaxy system for use across multiple applications, including forest inventory, agriculture, urban mapping, and surveying carbon mapping of archeological sites in the Amazon region.

The compact all-terrain, all landcover Galaxy PRIME delivers projects

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with higher productivity than any other system on the market. Its PulseTRAK technology enables a continuous operating envelope that can accommodate high relief terrain with no data gaps or loss of density across multipulse transition zones.

SwathTRAK technology can reduce operating costs by as much as 50 percent by maintaining fixed width flightlines for consistent point density and fewer flightlines in variable terrain. Fototerra’s plans include high-resolution mapping in urban city cores, for forest and environmental monitoring in the Amazon.

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Trimble Announces Connected Climate Exchange TRIMBLE HAS ANNOUNCED THE CONNECTED CLIMATE EXCHANGE, a carbon marketplace to connect and aggregate verified data across the agriculture supply chain to enable a more sustainable future. To meet net zero commitments, Trimble offers new opportunities for industry stakeholders to quantify their sustainability reports, scale their businesses with climate offerings, and, ultimately, minimize the negative effects of climate change.

Trimble's Connected Climate Exchange creates a streamlined process for aggregating data across farm organizations and verifying this data for emissions reductions and removals buyers. By connecting an ecosystem of farmers, agronomists, ag retailers, and carbon buyers in one marketplace, the Connected Climate Exchange enables participation in carbon markets and sustainability programs that were previously too time-consuming and complex.

New Guide Details How to Build a Drone Program

ArcMap Calls It a Day

THE TEAM AT COMMERCIAL UAV NEWS HAS PUT TOGETHER A FREE GUIDE Building Your Drone Program: Defining Your Scope, Choosing the Right Systems, Workforce Development, and More.”

The new guide, available on the Commercial UAV News website, covers such topics as whether you really need a drone program, getting buy-in from management and staff, outsourcing versus in-house, selecting the right drones and related systems, hiring and training staff, complying with regulations and policies, and more.

In this comprehensive guide, readers will discover professional insights, expert advice, and industry-proven strategies gathered from diverse sources. Building Your Drone Program explores how businesses spanning different sectors can harness these insights to construct and optimize their own successful drone initiatives.

STAYING RELEVANT IN THE MAPPING COMMUNITY after 25 years says quite a lot about the utility of ArcMap, Esri’s popular geospatial program. First released in 1999 as ArcMap 8.0, the user-friendly software became one of the main applications in the ArcGIS suite that the terms ArcMap and ArcGIS are often used interchangeably.

This month however, its last stable iteration (version 10.8.2) is entering the “mature support phase” of its product life cycle. This means Esri will wind up all support for software bug fixes and patches starting March 1, 2024. Before ArcMap is fully retired by the company in 2026, users are encouraged to migrate to ArcGIS Pro, its x64-bit desktop mapping application that is faster and has more powerful functions, including cloud integration to ArcGIS Online.

But for those who cannot afford the price tag of going Pro, trying out open-source mapping solutions can be a sensible option.

Novel Navigation Helps Japan Land on the Moon THE SMART LANDER FOR INVESTIGATING MOON (SLIM), an uncrewed spacecraft from the land of the rising sun, successfully descended on the moon’s surface in January, making Japan the fifth country to do so. But what makes SLIM’s descent to the rocky lunar surface on January 19 extra special is its use of “vision-based navigation” that allowed the spacecraft to locate its landing area with unprecedented precision, landing within 100 meters (328 feet) of its target zone..

Previous lunar touchdowns had wider landing zones of about 10 kilometers (six miles). How was this precision achieved? With the help of camera payloads and image processing algorithms, the SLIM space craft measured and corrected its own position by continuously scanning the moon’s surface and then matching them with those found in highly detailed images of the moon’s surface that were previously captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Japan’s Kaguya Orbiter.

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contribute to future lunar probes.

“Our mission aims to unravel the origins of the Moon through composition analysis of rocks estimated to be derived from the lunar mantle using a multi-band spectral camera,” according to a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) press release. “To achieve this, it is essential to land in the vicinity of the targeted crater, enabling precise observations that can only be accomplished through pinpoint landing.”

— Marc Delgado, marc.delgado@xyht.com

INTRODUCING

EXYN NEXYS a modular mapping and surveying ecosystem that allows users to quickly capture highly accurate, colorized, real-time 3D point clouds in complex, dangerous, or inhospitable environments like those in the mining, AEC, and geospatial industries.

AUTONOMOUS LIDAR MAPPING AND NAVIGATION - HERE WHEN YOU NEED IT

Our proprietary autonomy algorithms, coupled with our SLAM-based LiDAR scanning technology deliver survey-grade results without a pilot. The operator simply sets the area to scan and the system determines its own route.

Start with mapping only, then upgrade to full autonomy when you need it.

CAPTURE SURVEY GRADE DATA - FAST

With fast on premise processing, get real-time visualization of your captured data with full detail and colorization in the field to ensure the scan area is correct and complete before you leave the site. Adaptable to changing environments, Nexys’ SLAM-based spatial mapping is capable of capturing up to 1.9 million scan points per second at up to 5mm @ 1 sigma, while continuously updating the map as new data is received.

VERSATILE DEPLOYMENT

Designed to be highly versatile and ruggedly ergonomic, the Nexys can be quickly and easily switched between a variety of configurations, giving users the flexibility and cost efficiency to use one device in any mapping environment - inside, outside, below ground, short or long distance, autonomous or piloted, connected or not connected to communications networks.

DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS FOR EVERY USE CASE Aerial Robots Use our autonomous mapping with a growing number of drone models, or you can choose mapping-only on a compatible drone that you pilot yourself.

with a compatible self-piloted robot, or use the robot’s integrated semi-autonomous mode.

Handheld Nexys’ lightweight, ruggedly ergonomic design makes it easy to carry for handheld scanning operations.

Backpack Mount Our ruggedized, water resistant backpack holds and powers Nexys while scanning, and also serves as a storage and travel case.

Vehicle Mount Nexys can be easily and securely mounted to almost any vehicle or surface, allowing you to capture a complete map in rugged environments.

Custom Interface The Nexys mounting interface ships with all units and may be used to securely mount Nexys in a variety of mounting configurations.

Visit: www.exyn.com/products/exyn-nexys

Terrestrial Robots Choose to use our autonomous mapping with a growing number of ground robots, map the route yourself

SPONSORED CONTENT MARCH 2024

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AI

IN CONSTRUCTION Artificial intelligence is more than just a chat bot

BY NATHAN PATTON

A

rtificial intelligence isn’t going to take your job. Those that know how to use it, however, they absolutely will.

AI started like all other tech trends, a buzzy concept with very cool, very impractical demonstrations, and nearly no way to predict how it could affect our day-to-day lives. But something shifted in 2022 when OpenAI released ChatGPT. It had a clear and immediate impact on our daily work. We could instantly see the value of having our emails written for us, having 100-page reports condensed and summarized in seconds, seeking answers in a more human way than Google ever could.

This exact shift is why AI is so imperative to the future of the construction industry. It offers an intuitive way to automate tasks that free humans to focus on making the most critical decisions rather than the minutiae that wastes our time. Adoption, investment, and value are all increasing across a variety of industries. According to McKinsey & Company, 50 percent of organizations have adopted AI in at least one business area. AI will become increasingly critical to the success and growth of businesses in this space.

Simply put, those that learn how to leverage these technol-

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ogies will outlast those that don’t.

But you’re smart enough to know not to trust every fad that comes along, and you’ve wasted too much time on failed “disruptors” in the past. What makes AI stand apart? How can you ensure success with AI-empowered tools?

DEFINING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Perhaps the first step is understanding that AI is not a single technology, or even a single algorithm. It’s a broad term for tools that use data to problem solve and reason, and it can modify its decisions based on learned inputs—essentially mimicking human intelligence. AI presents a narrative around data.

Underneath AI are actual technologies such as computer vision, visual-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), 3D modeling tools, etc. AI inside software translates to doing more with less.

Generative AI solutions are already available to help design teams automate modeling work such as creating 3D components from simple sketches, resulting in faster, less labor-intensive solutions. One recently released 3D modeling tool now lets users create images from an active model through a text prompt.

During construction, there are tools that leverage AI-enabled computer vision and sensors to automatically update schedules, budgets, and catch potential safety issues based on field data collection that can help streamline processes, minimize rework, and boost efficiency. With deep learning, AI software can automatically detect and label real-world assets from massive point cloud datasets with tremendous accuracy and efficiency.

Here are a few ways that AI can help and, in some cases, might already be working behind the scenes for survey and mapping professionals working in the construction industry.

Improved Data Analysis: AI algorithms can process large data sets and identify patterns that may be overlooked by humans.

For example, aerial photographs and sensor data can be analyzed to detect changes in

site conditions. By automating the analysis of these vast data sets, geospatial professionals can focus on higher-level tasks and do more with less.

Enhanced Precision and Accuracy: Precision and accuracy are essential when it comes to construction, from start to finish.

Machine learning and deep learning tools can help refine GNSS data and improve the accuracy of spatial analysis. This is critical for most any construction project, if not all.

Faster Decision Making Through Predictive Analytics: By analyzing historical data compared to current data, AI models can forecast environmental changes that can be used for proactive planning, mitigating risks, and optimizing resources.

Leveraging AI and predictive modeling to not just track activities but recommend improvements for the future will be essential to getting the next generation worker

up to speed very quickly.

Automating Repetitive Tasks: One of the top benefits of AI is the opportunity to perform tedious, manual tasks. Basically, AI is used to mimic human cognitive functions with a goal of high-quality replacement, meaning that the result produced

by AI-powered tools is expected to be as close as possible to the quality of human intelligence. This automation can not only accelerate workflows but can also reduce the chances for human error.

GETTING STARTED WITH AI

AI is only as good as the accuracy and breadth of data it is using and the questions it is answering.

• Collect High Quality Data.

Garbage in, garbage out. AI models are only as good as the quality of data they are referencing. To get the most out of

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workforce to learn about AI and how it can support their work, not replace them. Training sessions are a great time to address any fears or concerns.

And finally, continually reassess your AI implementations to refine processes based on lessons learned. AI can be a powerful tool for workforce upskilling and development, but, like any technology, it requires careful assessment, testing, flexibility and responsiveness to feedback from users.

Bottom line, automated solutions maximize productivity and efficiency, and can lead to enhanced precision and accuracy, improved data analysis, and faster decision making.

The transformative potential of AI in addressing current industry challenges, such as labor shortages and the need for efficiency and accuracy, is paving the way for future advancements. ■

AI, you’ll need to implement strong processes to guarantee fidelity and check and confirm the quality of the data.

• Centralize Data. Just like humans, AI can only provide quality results when it has the proper context to draw on. By collecting diverse data and centralizing it in a common location, you will be able to vastly improve the quality of results.

• Respond to AI. We’ve all seen terrible answers from ChatGPT, and often it’s because of a poor prompt.

Many other AI models are the same, we need to use the right tools for the right job and understand that not all AI is made the same. We need to ask the right questions and know what AI models are good for and what they’re not good for.

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If you are considering ways to integrate AI into your workflow, start with small, targeted use cases where you can clearly demonstrate value to gain buy-in from leadership and workers. Automating a straightforward task is a good starting point. These pilot projects are also a good time to ensure you have robust data collection and management processes in place before implementing AI solutions to maximize their effectiveness.

Next, provide education and training opportunities for your

Nathan Patton is product marketing manager for Building Construction Field Systems at Trimble. Recently named one of xyHt's Young Geospatial Professionals to Watch, he works to deliver tangible value through cutting-edge technologies that connect the digital and physical worlds.

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Ground penetrating radar mapping for the development of a digital twin for the city of Wellington, New Zealand.

Credit: Reveal

MAPPING WHAT LIES

BENEATH T

he technology of underground utility mapping is on an exciting and promising trajectory.

Multi-sensor approaches, even the prospect of quantum sensors, along with an explosion of phone/tablet-coupled lidar and camera sensors, digital twins, augmented- and mixed-reality platforms are all very exciting. But how do you encourage, entice, cajole, or mandate that such solutions get utilized?

In talking with Sam Wiffen, founder and CEO of Reveal, about his company’s platform that I had heard

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The tools and resources for mapping underground infrastructure are rapidly evolving, but to keep up we must change our mindset of underground utility mapping.

By Gavin Schrock

so many good things about, we turned to the motivational side of the underground challenge. This is what the late international utilities mapping advocate Geoff Zeiss was doing—inspiring and motivating practitioners, stakeholders, and policy makers to improve the state of underground mapping.

Wiffen had often exchanged ideas with Zeiss and shared many views: “I’m obsessed about the carrot of motivation as well. How do we change the culture?

How do we get people to keep the records up to date? What are the motivating factors? How could we gamify it to where people are behind that? We have to start to look at humans, the way we think and operate.”

Wiffen is passionate about getting to a place where an optimal underground resource could come to fruition.

He cites several key elements that would be needed, including getting the cost of capture down to where more can be done, and developing ecosystems of information that people want—and need.

Reveal provides full services for underground utility data capture using local resources and a partner network; in the many international markets including Australasia, the U.S., and Singapore.

Services then enable the management of utility data in their own platform, combining the many types and formats of data and connecting into customers’ existing asset and spatial data management systems.

With the foundation of Reveal firmly rooted in geophysics and utility mapping services, the software and services are proudly driven from a deep understanding of the stakeholders and the problem.

The roadmap for the founding of

Reveal and its evolution was greatly influenced by Wiffen’s own journey.

New Zealand raised, Wiffen initially took up a design certificate track in his university studies but found that did not provide the science and math challenge he was seeking, so he switched his focus to engineering. At the same time, he was working in construction.

“A bit of underground, large residential, and some commercial,” said Wiffen.

“Project management was my forte, especially the technical elements.”

The reason he got into the underground space was that for some large projects they would find “an enormous kind of rubbish heap of redundant cables that were not on the plans.

Everyone would shrug their shoulders and say ‘Oh, you know, that’s what it’s like.’ ” Wiffen has a low tolerance for the ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it’ schtick.

If anything is hobbling better un-

derground mapping, and the broader digitalization of AEC, that kind of acquiescence is the key culprit.

He started looking at progressive approaches, and what was going on in subsurface utility engineering around the world. There were two events that accelerated this process: the rebuilding of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquakes, and a national broadband rollout, for which an enormous amount of subsurface would be needed.

We’ve all experienced the pain…

Things may not get built to plan, formal as-built surveys may not have been done, poorly prepared records, lost records, reliance on institutional knowledge, and legacy records are often only schematic. No amount of technological magic can take disparate, inaccurate, and inconsistent records and turn them into a digital twin.

There are though very effective routes to getting good, digital twin level data: proactively capturing the assets before they are buried,

High-precision full color 3D model of underground infrastructure. Credit: Reveal

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Underground infrastructure in the immersive 3D Reveal platform Credit: Reveal

or with multi-sensor approaches. To And it paid off. While there have the former, the disruptive tech of lidar/ been great advances in the technology, camera fusions, even on phones, has and with some solutions boasting “it made it possible for an inspector to creates 3D models automatically,” those essentially “wave who are very suca phone over a cessful with such trench” to get sensors know an as-built 3D that the premium model. This is still on skill If we look at the approach looks and understandurban intensificato be easier for ing the science. tion of cities, worknew assets, howThere is still an ever for existing art to “reading force challenges, assets, the only the tea leaves” of and digital waves practical option GPR. that are upon us, is multi-sensor There were we have to become surveys with any still challenges. way more efficient sort of scale.

“The industry “When just wanted the starting Reveal, lowest price, – Sam Wiffen, founder my mistaken treating the tech and CEO of Reveal assumption was like a compliance that GPR was box,” said Wiffa utility locaten. In a way that ing tool,” said turned out to be Wiffen. “I was wrong. It is a geophysa good thing. While the status quo was ical instrument and best operated by often rough, Revel could demonstrate a geophysicist. We sought out some higher-quality mapping. “Because we’ve young geophysicists, the most compemanaged to hire and train and have ontent people we could find, to operate board phenomenal people: geologists, this equipment, and hit the market geophysicists, geotechnical engineers, with a higher quality product.” really smart people who understand

“

”

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this and could really challenge and would understand what they’re getting from radargrams. We started to really push and improve our quality and get into the utility mapping components.”

The value they were able to demonstrate to contractors, who had previously been used to sketchy records, minimal-locate-tech paint marks, weighing the risk of uncertainty and deciding to pothole anyhow, was high confidence.

“The first thing I say to these companies is: ‘you need to stop the leak in the ship,’” said Wiffen. “Any information that comes in, you have to form a new strategy for what this information looks like. And then we can start to reconcile the existing assets to conform to that, because otherwise, we’re just not making any progress.” There was a lot of resistance to changing the back ends; the disconnects between large entities and their data silos. ■

Gavin Schrock is a professional land surveyor who writes on surveying, mapping, GIS, data management, reality capture, satellite navigation, and emerging technologies.

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BEHAVE LIKE

AVIATORS The importance of rules and conduct when flying small drones for mapping

BY JUAN B. PLAZA

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hen I saw my first photogrammetry drone in 2013, it was all new and full of promise and wonder. As with anything else in life, with maturity comes reality and with reality comes responsibility. This past decade, the industry of aerial photogrammetry using small drones has grown exponentially and today there are a myriad of inexpensive solutions that have allowed surveyors all over the world to transition from purely ground operations to full blown aerial mapping capabilities relatively easily.

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But what happens when hundreds if not thousands of small drones start sharing the sky with general and commercial aviation? The inevitability of an encounter grows with every flight and the need to be protected is more imperative than ever.

On December 30, 2023, a Robinson R44 helicopter collided with a drone half a mile southwest of the Daytona Beach airport (KDAB) and at the beginning speculation was rampant and all kinds of rumors began to circulate given the combination of the words helicopter, airport, and drone.

Two weeks later the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) the independent federal agency that investigates transportation accidents in the country, published an “Aviation Investigation Notification” that lists all the facts of the accident, including all registration data for the helicopter, weather, and exact location. The curious thing about this preliminary report is that it does not mention the drone at all—not a single word about an uncrewed vehicle being involved in the accident.

We were able to dig a little deeper into the issue and found out the following facts: • The drone was performing an automated photogrammetry flight at 180 feet AGL (Above Ground Level).

• The helicopter was performing a short tourist flight with one pilot and two passengers onboard.

• The collision occurred over the mapping area when one of the blades of the helicopter hit the drone while the drone was flying a south-north line of its grid.

• Given the proximity to the airport, the drone mapping flight was being conducted under a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA).

• The helicopter was not operating from the KDBA but from a private heliport half a mile southwest of the accident site.

• This particular flight of December 30 was the ninth flight being performed over the same area, over a similar number of weeks, beginning in early November.

• Both pilots have valid pilot licenses from the FAA, both aircraft are properly registered with the FAA, and both operations are legal under FAA rules.

• The helicopter suffered minor damage to one blade and the drone was destroyed.

It is very difficult to know exactly what happened before the NTSB publishes its

final accident report. The NTSB normally takes a few weeks to publish a preliminary report and this was a Class 4 investigation, the lowest level given the fact that were no injuries or damage to third parties. Class 1 is for major accidents. Class 2 investigations involve a significant effort collecting evidence across several investigative areas and a substantial investment of resources. Class 3 investigations seek to identify safety issues that reveal underlying causes of the accident.

A few lessons can be learned from this event for everyone involved in aerial mapping with non-piloted aircraft, especially considering that it happened to a colleague of ours.

As soon as you take off, you enter a “System” in which you are just another player in the National Airspace (NAS), and you are bound to encounter other aircraft.

This happens to every traditional pilot in almost every flight, and deviations are normal in both VFR (Visual Flying Rules) and IFR (Instrument Flying Rules).

In my experience as a traditional photogrammetry pilot, in both jet and propeller planes, I have been told countless times to stop on a specific line in my grid and descend or climb or turn left or turn right to allow a passenger jet to traverse my mapping area. This is normal and we have all been affected by it. But what happens when there is no pilot onboard?

Very simple: follow the rules of Part 107. This uncrewed aviation regulation that

took effect in the summer of 2016 is what most, if not all, drone pilots are using today to legally fly their drones and improve their workflows, from cellular tower inspections to photogrammetry.

Part 107 is restricted to flights within the visual line of sight of the operator and we are all anxiously awaiting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to release what is expected to be called Part 108, regulating flights beyond visual line of sight or BVLOS. But while we wait, let us focus on the minimum requirements that all drone pilots, especially those in our profession, must comply with, to be legally protected in case of an accident: • Make sure you have all your certificates in order and up to date.

• Make sure the registration of the drone with the FAA is in effect and valid.

• Make sure you have hardware and liability insurance for your drone and the operation you are performing.

• Make sure that you can always keep the drone in your line of sight. If the operation requires you to see something else from time to time, hire a visual observer to help you always keep track of the drone.

• If you are flying under a COA, make sure you read every word and comply with every instruction.

• If the person responsible for the safety of the operation mentioned by name in the COA is not you, make sure that person is fully aware of your flight and, if possible, make sure that person is always with you while in the area of the flight.

• If the COA allows you to fly in the vicinity of an airport, make sure you communicate with the tower and that they have your phone number. Also, make sure you

have your phone with you and that you can always hear it.

Drones in particular and uncrewed aviation in general will become more ubiquitous as people adopt the technology and civil aviation authorities around the world allow more and more operations of every type in their respective airspaces. In a very short time, there will be more uncrewed flights than traditional aviation and with that comes a huge responsibility for us as pilots.

Let’s not forget that once we take off, we enter the domain of the FAA and we have the same privileges of a larger, piloted aircraft but also that we are subjected to the same responsibilities and high safety standards. We are all aviators, and we all profit from the exploitation of this national resource, but let’s make sure that aerial photogrammetry and mapping will be the example of probity and good behavior that has always characterized our profession.

After all we are the first professionals to enter a site and the last to leave. ■

Juan B. Plaza is the CEO of Plaza Aerospace, a drone and general aviation consulting f irm specializing in modern uses for manned and unmanned aviation in mapping, lidar, and precision GNSS.

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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

AI and AEC

Can artificial intelligence infuse more profit in the architecture, engineering, and construction process? And when will that happen?

BY JONATHAN BARNES

In an interview with xyHt writer Jonathan Barnes, Smartbuild founder Zulq Malik talks about the things artificial intelligence can bring to the industry; and what it cannot, at least not yet.

I

s artificial intelligence a job-killer and the imminent bane of the construction industry, or possibly its salvation? It would seem likely a lot more of the latter than the former, since AI works on predictive analytics and such methods provide cost-saving benefits, especially over time.

But the technology isn’t fully mature yet; even so, some pros in architecture, engineering, and construction are already embracing AI. Many say its capabilities are far more promising for the future than for the present, but others are banking on it now.

Zulq Malik, founder and owner of construction project management software platform Smartbuild, believes that AI, combined with other tech tools and greater interdisciplinary cooperation, are essential for construction to succeed as an industry into the future.

Educated as a civil engineer, Malik grew up around construction as the son of a contractor and also owned his own general contracting company. It all led to his idea for Smartbuild, which led him to become interested in AI, and partner with Microsoft Office (and adding its AI capabilities).

There are many misconceptions about AI. Some people like sci-fi, others like science, but AI will not become some monstrous machine

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that will turn on humanity like a bulldozer with a berserk mind of its own in a 1970s movie. It will serve workers. Malik and other adherents are pointing out the benefits of this emerging technology.

We asked Malik a few questions about how AI will affect construction and what it might affect tomorrow and beyond.

If AI isn’t fully matured as a technology right now, why is it important for AEC companies to care about this tech? Aren’t they just wasting time learning a tool that’s not going to be immediately beneficial to them?

Why should they care? Because it’s high time, and they are missing a great opportunity and ways to save and make money, too.

We are at a pivotal point where, if the construction industry understands what AI can and can’t do, it will have grabbed a golden opportunity…If not, we will have missed an opportunity to catch up, technologically speaking.”

Many believe using AI will be a drag on a project’s progress and predictive analysis will just get you

information.

AI cannot be onsite reporting all the factors. It is not a person.

But it can help to eliminate mistakes."

bogged down. Is that right?

Not so. AI-powered prompts will increasingly keep workers on-task for greater productivity and fewer mistakes.

Using AI will increase our ability to capture information, style, and technique.

Communication between shareholders will be greater and more accurate. It will reduce the verbal diarrhea…AI already can tell you, based on the content of an email the moves you might need to make next.

Many AEC companies don’t embrace new technology until they have to— either by having to use it for a project or because they realize the tool is undeniably useful to their business. But will AI “correct” things on a project? Can it immediately reduce changes needed on a project?

Give AI time. At present, it’s not capable of [correcting design plans, mistakes, and the like]. In the future, yes. But we have to break down these silos of information separating architects, engineers, and

Simply embracing AI and fully deploying it with the right professionals like a data analyst can’t reduce the cost of a project, some think. It’s like research and development dollars spent to some. True?

False. AI can help users recognize clash detection and also predict beforehand the possibility of safety issues, such as when a worker forgets some piece of his work gear.

It is predictive information. AI also will be able to predict factors such as a worker forgetting his hardhat and remind the worker to have his hard hat for work.”

The predictive abilities of AI can help keep workers and managers on time with their tasks and reduce mistakes by employees and stay on schedule.

Sharing information with other architecture, engineering, and contracting companies working on a project, in part to harness the benefits of AI, is viewed as risky by those who feel it will put their company at a competitive disadvantage. Why must this mindset change?

Project managers are all doing reactive work now. They are putting out fires. AI will ease

Is AI a job-killer for people working in AEC? Will this technology lead to more automation that will destroy livelihoods, and if so, should it be avoided?

AI is not going to be able to solve all the problems, or take away peoples’ jobs.

AI simply takes habits that are happening and predicts future habits based on observed variables.

Companies working alongside each other on the same project, but not sharing project information with each other for proprietary reasons, are undermining the potential of AI, some say, because AI can only “learn” what it’s allowed to learn. Is a specialist needed, in the long run, to make the most of this technology?

AI requires data and, to be fully effective, needs a data analyst to understand that

contractors to do so. Construction sector companies guard their project information, but without such a collaborative mindset, the potential benefits of AI cannot be realized.

such burdens by making them rarer and give workers and managers the time and energy to think ahead. AI will give us the opportunity to become progressive in our work practices, fast.

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Why do contractors and others in AEC need to include tech pros in their work to get the most from AI? And will any tech pro do, or does industry experience matter?

Techies need to be versed in construction processes, to fully understand the AEC world and offer the most from analysis derived from AI. If data scientists can be guided by those with deep industry experience, they can circumvent the need for construction industry experience. Somebody needs to translate that information from the data scientist to the programmer.

So, will the AEC industry need to hire tech pros, and enable them to get industry experience in order to get the most from AI in construction? And how will this help?

AEC in the future will need to hire more data scientists with industry experience, because they will help determine best practices, including when the best season will be for workers to complete various tasks, since weather conditions vary greatly from region to region. Until you have data scientists with industry experience, they cannot create the new work model that will best improve the industry.

“Digital engagement,”as you call it, in construction is in part a question of streamlining processes and improving practices. But will such engagement move the needle immediately, if implemented?

It’s a bit like the difference between communicating with coworkers by email or by text or both, when simply using email is better. Even with AI, you’re still going to need paper drawings on the jobsite.

We are still relying on paper processes, static pieces of paper. Most people are still relying on Excel, and inputting changes by hand. It’s about using technology to report data to you to improve your processes and best practices. And also, to work toward a seamless digital engagement that is not redundant and which doesn’t waste time. ■

Jonathan Barnes is a Pittsburgh-based freelance journalist and tech writer.

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aspern Seestadt is being built on a reclaimed brownfield area as a futuristic development that embraces new urban ideals while retaining the classical urban structure of old Vienna.

GIS solutions keep one of Europe’s largest urban construction projects on track to the future

BY BROOKS PATRICK

V

ienna is a city in a bind. Austria’s capital, home to nearly two million people, is one of the European Union’s largest and fastest-growing cities. In four of the last five years, Vienna has held the top spot on The Economist’s annual rankings of the world’s most livable cities.

But a city can only remain livable if

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From the 3D interface, users can choose to view projects, plans, and indicators. Credit: Wien3420

there are enough places for people to live. Vienna’s leadership has used the challenge of creating more housing as an opportunity to envision a new pattern of neighborhood planning and placemaking throughout Vienna—a city within a city.

The result: aspern Seestadt, reclaims a brownfield area to create a development that embraces new urban ideals while retaining the classical urban structure of old Vienna.

As aspern Seestadt has evolved, it has emerged as one of Europe’s most dynamic planned communities and an incubator for smart city initiatives.

Geographic information system (GIS) technology helps planners implement clean energy and low-emission strategies and aids the long-range planning and implementation to ensure that aspern Seestadt achieves a unique balance of sustainability and livability.

A NEW LIFE FOR AN OLD AIRFIELD

In the early 2000s, following a period of stagnation and slow growth, Vienna’s population began to skyrocket. Since

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then, it has increased by 25 percent. The city is projected to add 200,000 new residents by 2030.

As far back as the 1990s, Vienna’s political and civic leaders foresaw the strain population growth would place on the city’s housing stock. Political realities complicated the problem. Vienna is both a city and one of Austria’s nine provinces, surrounded by another, Lower Austria.

“It’s just not possible for Vienna to grow on the outside,” said Carina Huber, an urban planner with the development agency Wien 3420 AG, the corporation responsible for overseeing aspern Seestadt’s development. “The only opportunity is to adapt unused areas within the city.”

Casting around for land to develop, officials settled on the former site of Aspern Airfield. A major civil and military aviation facility for more than 50 years, Aspern had closed in 1977, just as Vienna was reaching its postwar population low.

When construction began in 2007, the site was a derelict former airport.

Today, aspern Seestadt is a thriving

community spread over 800 acres. When it is completed in 2030, it will be home to more than 25,000 people and 20,000 workplaces.

EVERYTHING OLD (CITY) IS NEW AGAIN

To begin to understand the scope of aspern Seestadt’s achievement, consider that this former brownfield now contains a swimmable artificial lake at its heart.

The lake is its own circular economy. A plant converts the gravel from the lake excavation into road base and aggregate for concrete. To date, one million tons of recycled material have been delivered. Keeping the material on site has saved 280,000 truck trips and 6,000 tons of emissions.

Aspern Seestadt has made an ambitious commitment to lower its impact on residents and the environment. The aspern climate fit standard was developed with the goal to meet a greenhouse gas-neutral economy by 2040, with high-efficiency buildings, maximum use of renewable energy sources, e-mobility, and mitigating extreme heat in the summer.

This balanced approach permeates

the comprehensive plan that governs the project’s development. The plan emphasizes ambitious emissions requirements, both in the construction and everyday functioning of aspern Seestadt. Fifty percent of the area must be kept as undeveloped green and open spaces, with paths and treelined streets. At the same time, the area’s population density is nearly twice that of Vienna as a whole.

From the beginning, the City of Vienna saw aspern Seestadt as a test bed for smart city concepts, including a deemphasis on cars. The plan called for a 40-40-20 transportation infrastructure concept: 40 percent public transit, 40 percent walking and cycling, and 20 percent for personal vehicles.

Before any structures were built, the city built two metro rail stations in aspern Seestadt and extended the metro line to reach the site. It’s a 25-minute ride to reach Vienna’s city center, 15 kilometers away on the other side of the Danube. Since 2018, metro and railway lines meet at the transfer station Aspern Nord on the north side of the development, which makes for a 17-minute-trip

to Vienna’s central train station.

“What makes Seestadt unique, I would argue, is that it maintains the transportation mode split of the inner city,” said Petr Bocharnikov, a digital strategist with Sokigo, the Swedish firm that together with Sweco has developed and deployed new GIS tools for aspern Seestadt. “Historic city centers to this day allow for a significant share of travel with public transport, cycling, and walking, but new developments are much more car-oriented.”

A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND A MALLEABLE MAP

Something else unique about aspern Seestadt is the way its overall urban philosophy has evolved and flourished.

Instead of being a top-down vision emanating from officials of the City of Vienna, it is the product of an ongoing long-term collaboration among diverse public and private stakeholders.

This approach reflects what spatial planners Astrid Krisch and Johannes Suitner, in their analysis of aspern Seestadt, call “the switch from government

to governance” in city planning. The priority is nurturing the emergent ideals rather than dictating them.

For this reason, Wien 3420 AG was created as a public-private partnership with City of Vienna and two additional shareholders in 2003. The agency serves to coordinate all the inputs, a task aided

by GIS. In the early days of planning and construction, Wien 3420 AG used GIS primarily to print updated maps that displayed the project’s progress. As aspern Seestadt has taken shape, GIS has become a powerful integrated tool for planners and architects. GIS now provides a common virtual meeting space for project-related data and creates a foundation for including detailed infrastructure drawings (CAD) and building information models (BIM).

The agency uses GIS to create an unfolding visual documentation of the plan.

People involved with the project can take parts of the map relevant to their duties and integrate them into workflows for planning, constructing, operating, and marketing the development.

From the indicators view, users can select any area to see the totals of residential and commercial use. The dashboard displays the number of housing units and residents, as well as the projected number of employees. Credit: Wien3420

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Viewing the total embodied CO2e emissions relates building performance from the original efficiency standard as well as a more stringent standard that was developed when building technology improved. Credit: Wien3420

Huber referenced one of the earliest aspern Seestadt maps, depicting the comprehensive plan for the development. “It’s been with us from the very beginning,” she said. “It shows all the usages and open spaces. It’s the most used map in the whole company.”

Over time, the map has been augmented by dashboards that show aspern Seestadt’s progress. These help all project stakeholders understand whether the project is meeting its goals. For example, it can provide information about total emissions of proposed buildings based on the building function and expected construction standard. It also helps everyone involved understand the schedule for completing various phases of the development.

“We can combine 2D information with the 3D model we now have,” Huber said. “We can picture an already constructed building block, and we can load in contracts and PDFs.”

A DIGITAL TWIN KEEPS PACE WITH DEVELOPMENT

As aspern Seestadt has progressed, GIS technology has advanced along with

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it. The result is a realistic vision of the town that would have been impossible when the project was first conceived. As Bocharnikov wrote in a recent project update, “We’re transforming traditional GIS into a project information model, and ultimately, a digital twin.”

This geospatial digital twin, built using ArcGIS Urban, serves an important purpose in documenting the present and the past. But the twin also holds enormous importance as a way to understand the future and tweak the comprehensive plan accordingly.

The town has always had goals related to climate change—both in terms of building the development with a minimum carbon footprint and ensuring heat mitigation strategies. The twin guides the planners in making data-driven decisions to reach these objectives.

The twin also provides a record that lets planners change tactics in new parts of the development based on lessons learned from earlier phases. Stricter energy efficiency standards were recently applied to the next phase of develop-

ment. The digital twin provides visual communication of the change as well as quantifying gains in efficiency. It keeps aspern Seestadt focused on its goal of being a new sustainable and forward-thinking energy-efficient development in Europe.

“This gives every member of Wien 3420 the possibility of seeing a complete picture, including completed buildings, the master plan, modifications of the master plan, and architectural projects that are being refined,” Bocharnikov added. “Our goal is for every member of the organization to directly access it in their work. That’s very valuable for collaboration within the agency.” ■

Brooks Patrick is a Global Business Development Manager for Smart Cities at Esri helping customers and partners, across local government and private sectors, understand and implement GIS software and solutions.

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LEGAL BOUNDARIES

Let’s Get Real About Property

By Jeffery N. Lucas, JD, PLS, Esq.

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ne of the more serious problems with the surveying profession is our schizophrenic relationship with property and the associated property rights. For my entire professional surveying career, too many surveyors seem to think we have nothing to do with property rights; that our job is to simply layout the math and measurements contained in the property description of a deed and leave the results for other people to figure out.

The sources of this delusion are not hard to find. That it continues to this day when we should be more enlightened is baffling.

The core issue and the only reason for regulating land surveying practice is to protect the public. If this were all you knew about surveying practice it should invoke the question: What is it that surveyors protect for the public?

Just look around, much of what surveyors were once known for and proud of was their expert measuring ability. That is no longer the exclusive territory of the surveyor.

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Anyone with access to the right tools (total station, robot, GPS, scanner or drone) can be an expert measurer. Some are predicting that in the not-toodistant future a smart phone will provide survey-grade measurement results. So, let’s face it, we are not a regulated profession for the protection of deed measurements.

The only possible reason for licensing land surveyors is for the protection of the people’s real property rights through the determination of where those rights exist on the ground. Real property includes land and the permanent improvements thereon, as opposed to personal property that consist of things one owns.

Real property has associated real property rights. In law-school terms those “rights” associated with real property are likened to a bundle of sticks. Ownership of all the sticks in the bundle is called fee-simple ownership.

Without going too deep, let’s also acknowledge that these property rights are not unlimited—they have physical limits. That, in essence, is what a real property boundary is, the limits of the exercise of the real property rights. In other words, the physical limits of ownership.

Licensed land surveyors in the United States are the only people who are licensed and sanctioned by each state to make such a determination. A judge can’t do that, a title attorney can’t do that, the title company

can’t do that, and the building department clerk can’t do that either.

Under the right circumstances two adjoining landowners can make such a determination and any surveyor who cannot explain what those right circumstances are should turn in their license to practice before you hurt someone.

For a judge to make a property boundary determination there first must be a controversy. Then the judge needs subject matter jurisdiction and in personam jurisdiction over the parties to the controversy.

That’s all. The attorneys and surveyors are not required. Most people would hire an attorney and possibly a surveyor, but neither is a requirement nor are any measurements from the deed required. All that is needed is the testimony of the parties and any boundary can be adjudicated, because all property boundary lines have already become established on the ground by operation of law and equity.

In many ways surveying is practiced as a belief system with its own mythology.

There is an old saying in the much-confused lore of the land surveying profession, that only a judge can determine where the boundary line is located. This is, of course, pure surveying mythology and belief system, just like the idea that surveyors cannot locate property limits because that’s practicing the law. If both beliefs are true, then the only logical conclusion to draw from them is we need more lawyers (to be these mythical judges) and fewer surveyors.

The purpose of this column is to encourage your questions on boundary surveying issues that we will address in future installments. As such, you are invited to send your questions to the xyHt editor. 

Jeff Lucas is an attorney and land surveyor in private practice in Birmingham, Alabama. Jeff is an author, columnist, lecturer, seminar presenter, and continuing education provider. He writes a monthly newsletter, The Lucas Letter, dealing with legal issues and the practice of surveying. More information about Jeff and his continuing education courses can be found at www.lucasandcompany.com

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