You Got a New Project? Start Here

As an engineer I'm sure you've found yourself with an exciting new project that's all your own. You're put in charge of developing a site from scratch, building a new water main, maybe restoring an existing building to its former glory. So you sit back, take it all in, and ask yourself: where the heck do I start?

This is a question I ask myself quite a bit. It seems that with most projects I've worked on, the initial, information gathering phase is the most tedious and the one that often gets overlooked the most. I know larger firms have a full staff of engineers to perform PD&E (Project Development and Environmental) studies that gather a ton of data about a site. The problem is that when you work for a smaller firm, you are the PD&E guy, or girl.

So where do you start gathering data about a site? These are some of the most useful places I go to when I start a project:

1. Google Earth (It's not just for looking up your house):

Google Earth, I kid you not, is a godsend. This innovative piece of software is meant to give you access to explore the world (download here free). But to us engineers it's not just great for tours of the Louvre in Paris, it's an essential tool for some essential data gathering. Earth uses frequently updated satellite imagery along with 3D building modeling and GIS data to give you access to more information than you can imagine. For starters, you can look up your existing site, get an aerial view of the site, and see buildings rendered in 3D around your site, all before stepping out of the office. The street view feature also lets you zoom in to images at a street level which help you analyze the surrounding conditions around your site. A great use of the street view feature is locating utilities. Finding a drainage structure or a manhole that isn't shown in the original as-builts can avoid costly mistakes down the road.

Where google Earth really shines though, is in its integration with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS is a set of data created for different purposes that can be manipulated to analyze all kinds of geographical data. There's an entire field of education focused around GIS, and the benefit of all this data is that, for the most part, its accessible for us to use, most of the time for free. Here are just a few uses I've found for GIS overlays in Google Earth:

Section, Township, Range: Needed for practically every permit I've ever filled out, this free and handy tool shows you the STR coordinates wherever you're viewing them. Download the kmz file here.
Historical Imagery: Helpful for some historical context of site development in the area
Subsurface data: This is more for geotech studies, but it's always helpful if you want to know more about what formations lie underground. The National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has a database with overlays (.kml or .kmz) files for soil maps, air quality, and even earthquake data. NRCS data is available here. Note: More detailed subsurface information can also be obtained from the NRCS "Web Soil Survey" here

2. Bing Maps

I love what Google Earth, and Google Maps, do. But like everything else in this world, it's not perfect. I use Bing Maps for one reason the old Google machine just can't compete with: Bird's Eye View. Simply put, its satellite imagery taken from an angle. The imagery being at an angle gives you a much better idea of the site. You can see the height of buildings (not just the top of them), overhead utilities become much more visible, and large trees don't block as much of the image as top-down images. Trust me, an extra five minutes searching for the same address in Bing can save you some headaches down the road.

See The Difference? You get a better sense of the building's scale, as well as more detail about the slope of the canal.

3. Public Records Search

This is the search that makes or breaks your data-gathering phase. Public records are available for almost every property in the US. More information is available on a property than you care to know, and because it's all public, it's all free (for the most part). The key here is knowing where to look. Here are some useful places to start:

Property Appraiser's Website: Since you know the property location, you should always start with a property search. Property data is almost always maintained by a county or state property appraiser, and contains data like lot size, zoning designation, full legal description and land use, among others.
Official County Records: County (or state) official records include lots of legal information, much of which I don't understand. It does however include plat and easement information, which is extremely helpful. Plats are scaled maps showing the divisions of properties.

Plats include the distance and bearing between properties, giving you an accurate (and legal) definition of the property limits. Plats sometimes also include topographic information. All this means you have property limits, and sometimes even elevations or important site characteristics, before you even have a site survey. Of course this information should be used carefully, as plats are very seldom updated, and it can be hard to find the latest plat.
An easement is a certain right to use the real property of another without possessing it. Easements are most commonly used by utilities companies to run their underground or above ground utilities through private properties. It gives them the right to use that piece of land, and because these easements are legal agreements between property owners and utility or government entities, they are part of the public record. Searching for an easement is not always easy, as every county and state keeps different records. For smaller counties, this information might not even be available digitally. Obtaining easement information for your property is imperative for any discipline. For civil developments it means you know which utilities cross your property, pointing out potential utility conflicts early. For structures, it means you know where not to locate your building footprint. For geotech studies, it means you know where not to dig.

County GIS websites: Many major counties in the U.S. have started to develop GIS websites. These sites give you detailed information specific to your county. The type of information varies, and can range from simple property information all the way up to detailed maps of underground utilities. Sometimes the information is not readily available, and you might have to contact the county offices to gain access to them, but the time spent gaining access is well worth it.

So that's it, some of the places I constantly look to for some essential data gathering before I start any project. All this might seem obvious, but more often than not we fail to take these basic steps. In my personal experience, if you're assigned a new project and you show up to your first meeting with all this information, before anyone even asks for it, people will take notice. Learning as much as you can about a site, as early as possible, will give you an edge over other engineers out there, and will teach you an invaluable life lesson: information is power.

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