Surveying Solutions, Inc. (SSI) was selected as a sub consultant to Parsons Inc. tasked with the surveying and mapping of the U.S. portion of the Gordie Howe International Bridge (GHIB) project in the City of Detroit, MI. The overall goal of this project was to create and validate a comprehensive survey dataset to be used for the design and construction of the U.S. portion of the GHIB Bridge including approaches and toll plaza.
Overall there were over 40 miles of roadway data that needed to be collected. Before the project could begin there were several challenges and unique factors that needed to be considered including impacts on the motoring public, safety of field personnel, the amount of data that was to be collected, and tight scheduling deadlines. To meet the project challenges, SSI utilized Mobile LiDAR to provide a 3D model of the accessible portions of the project and also utilized data sources from several previous past projects including Aerial LiDAR, Aerial Mapping, and conventional survey data.
The primary data collection technique for this project was Mobile LiDAR Scanning which allowed the team to collect data at posted speeds from a dual-head laser scanner. The use of a dual-head scanner proved to be very advantageous by increasing the productivity of the overall extraction effort. Using mobile scanning techniques to collect roadway data improved visualizations of features in the field.
The use of Mobile LiDAR combined with other data sources allowed information to be delivered ahead of schedule. Obtaining all of the information using conventional methods would have been time and cost prohibitive. Conventional data collection would have also had substantial impacts to daily traffic while compromising the safety of field personnel. The use of Mobile LiDAR had zero impact on the motoring public and saved the overall project by eliminating costly lane closures. Recycling the previously acquired Aerial data also provided substantial savings.
With the use of data fusion, SSI was able to create a fully controlled, dense dataset that has since been used downstream for multiple other purposes. Utilizing multiple data sources saved money, increased safety, provided a better overall mapping deliverable, and allowed SSI to deliver survey deliverables ahead of schedule.
Author: Casey Potts
