Airport Business - 34

TECHNOLOGY
precision, I calculated that it would
areas; low vegetation areas; f lat, open
take eight nights of work to complete
taxiways and runways; and elevated
retaining walls and ramps. As part of that
it. Having seen the speed, range and
survey, they needed to locate and map
accuracy of the SX10, I thought it might
critical utilities, taxiways, runways and
be a better alternative."
ramps. Such a varied landscape required
He thought right.
multiple technologies and approaches.
Arriving on site at 11 p.m., he
However, because this site is located
and his colleague used the previously
within CLT's airfield, CES was required
established primary control network and
to perform their work overnight to
set additional "spur" control points as
avoid disrupting airport operations and
needed. Setting the scanning total station
to ensure their safety and the safety of
on a chosen control point, Hudson
airport staff and airline personnel.
captured the scene, collecting not only
They set control using a number
the concrete joints and surface-elevation
variations, but also the tops and bottoms
of GNSS receivers, occupying each
of retaining walls, storm grates and
control point multiple times and then
building corners at distances up to 300
calculating the averaged coordinates
for each point. They then ran a closed
feet from the instrument. In 10 scanning
traverse loop using the S7 for horizontal
set ups, the crew captured the entire 40
control and the DiNi level for vertical
acres in a single seven-hour shift.
control to within 0.01 ft. With control
"I didn't think I'd use the scanning
established, three different survey crews
functionality on a huge, f lat surface
used multiple S7 total stations and TSC7
so I wasn't sure how it would perform,
data collectors to collect all the field data
particularly in low light," says Hudson.
including ground shots, utilities and "I went to the site expecting it would be
critical tie-in points.
a three-night job, and I was shocked that
There was one particular area, we got it all in one night. Our dealer,
however, that gave Hudson pause: a
Duncan Parnell, had assured me that
40-acre, concrete cargo area. This "flat" darkness wouldn't be a problem, and
apron is comprised of 107, 20 ft x 20 ft
they were right. I not only acquired
concrete slabs laid in a grid pattern. CES
millions of 3D points that clearly show
was required to locate and pinpoint every
all the concrete seams and subtle grade
concrete joint, or seam, within this vast
variations, I captured substantially more
area, along with any grade change over
data in nearly 13 percent of the time."
An additional efficiency benefit
the cargo space and taxiways.
"To acquire that kind of survey over
came from the "big picture" screen
40 acres would have required us to
of the TSC7, which enabled crews to
take 5,000-7,000 shots using our total
seamlessly manage the data from myriad
stations," says Hudson. "We'd have to set
project tasks and sync data between field
a rod every 20 feet, take a shot, and move
and office in real time.
to the next point 20 feet away. Although
"The large controller screen makes
our technology would deliver on the
it easy to see in any environment like

bright sun, overcast, in the middle of
the night and even wearing polarized
sunglasses," says Hudson. "That allows
us to quickly set up new jobs and move
between jobs."
Back in the office, Hudson processed
the point cloud using TBC software and
its automated extraction tools to remove
any extraneous features such as parked
airplanes. After cleaning the data, he
created a 3D topographic model of the
40-acre concrete apron and exported it
into AutoCAD to produce a final 3D
surface. Two days after capturing the
data, CES delivered the topographic
survey to their client.
Since finishing that survey, CES
teams have been back on the SCT site
with their S7 total stations to collect
the locations of all the sewer and storm
systems across the 300 acres. Work on
the SCT project will continue through
2022.
The company is involved in 16 active
projects at the airport. "Since purchasing
the SX10, I'm using it in on projects I
never thought I would, like scanning
features at busy road intersections and
large-diameter water main projects," says
Hudson. "The ability to scan and survey
in one instrument, its ease of use and its
speed save us so much time in the field.
And on such massive projects like CLT,
we need that."
Between Destination CLT and other
on-going projects, CES has opened a
third office in Columbia, S.C. With
a docket that looks as full as CLT's
departure board, CLT might not be
their final gate. 

CLT elevated
roadway
surface
under
construction,
between
the terminal
building
(left) and
parking
garage
(right)

34 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2020
Airport Business

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