Civil engineer’s perspective

Rose: With budgets being strained at every turn, municipalities and utility companies need to know that their Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) dollars are being spent in areas that will truly make a difference. So the first question becomes, "Where will it make the most difference, and where is my biggest need?"

For example, with many municipalities, the greatest need, especially for rehabilitation and replacement, is likely to be the oldest water or sewer pipelines. Or perhaps it is the water lines that were constructed of asbestos-cement pipe. Or maybe it is those old vitrified clay sewer lines that have been in the ground for 50 years. An appropriate question is, "Where are those lines?" Most municipalities have someone who has been on staff since time began and remembers what was installed and where. Now if there was just a way to download that wealth of information from his or her brain!

In many cases, all that information was "downloaded" over the years to produce nice maps. So now someone can start looking at all the maps and make a list of where the asbestos-cement water lines and vitrified clay sewer lines are located. And once that information is available, the next question is, "Which system is the oldest?" Oops, that information wasn’t written down on the maps. And maybe these maps are not all that accurate, but at least it is a start.

Just imagine having all that data in a GIS system and being able to "ask" the GIS to show you all the vitrified clay pipe, 12 inches in diameter and larger, that was installed at least 50 years ago. Now match that with reports from your own field maintenance crews on where they have made repairs to the sewer system and see how they might match up. This data allows users to begin to determine the priorities and develop a realistic CIP. The key is having good data from the start. The GIS allows an engineer to analyze the data quickly to make good decisions. And if you are stretched for dollars, making the best decisions is critical.

GIS perspective

Jackson: Ever hear the phrase, "You need to get your priorities in order"? I can’t think of a faster and better way to prioritize utility assets than by using a GIS.

To create an annual CIP, ask a GIS professional to assist in prioritizing the list of future engineering projects based on specific criteria. Details about infrastructure, land, buildings, or service areas can be filtered and sorted in ways you probably didn’t think were possible. Specialized GIS software allows all the data layers to communicate with each other, and the information is communicated back in both graphical and tabular formats.

This is not a tall order when you understand that the real power of the GIS lies in the details of the database. Each feature in a GIS contains valuable data, and those database details can be used to make a CIP priority list.

How easy is it? Think up a query such as, "Show all the pipes in the high-pressure area (zone 33) that had more than two service calls during the last six months." As the GIS screen highlights the pipes involved in this query, it is easy to see the details that can be included in a CIP report. Now expand the query to include the cost of the repairs or how many times a crew has been dispatched to a specific location and you should begin to see a pattern. If the repair pattern isn’t clearly displayed, then ask your GIS professional to show pipes "classified" by years or type of breaks. Wham! You now have a list of the top 10 pipes that need to be replaced. And you can produce a map directly from the GIS.

Keeping priorities in order is much easier when you use GIS to find the valuable details. Isn’t it time to get your priorities in order?


Gordon Rose, P.E., senior project manager at McKim & Creed, has 30 years’ experience in water distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, stormwater management, and planning. Janet Jackson, GISP, heads McKim & Creed’s GIS activities company-wide. McKim & Creed is an engineering, surveying, and planning firm. Contact Rose and Jackson at intersect@mckimcreed.com.