FastMap Mobile Drainage Network Surveyor System

The new system is ideal for any contractor carrying out HADDMS (Highways Agency Digital Database Management System) surveys and has been developed as a direct response to new legislation due to be implemented in 2011, which requires water and sewerage companies to adopt and survey all previously un-adopted sewers, for example, on private property.

The solution is pole-mounted and is comprised of a Trimble R4 GNSS receiver capable of centimetre accuracy, a Trimble VRS Now real-time corrections service license (to achieve this accuracy in real-time) and Trimble FastMap Mobile Drainage Network Surveyor software running on a rugged Trimble Nomad 900G handheld GPS data collection device. 

Key functionality includes the option to move a manhole position to a current GPS position and automatically move all connecting pipes, complete an STC25 list of attributes about the manhole, draw a sketch of the assets and take a photograph of the exposed manhole chamber using a high-resolution camera. Additionally, the software can be used to draw each connecting pipe by locking upstream and downstream manholes, record details of the pipe, and automatically calculate the pipe length and fall.

All collected data can be output as Esri shapefiles in the specific STC25 format of the sewer network.

Trimble’s Business Development Director, Peter Lloyd, explains, “We have developed this software to specifically address the type of tasks that UK contractors need to carry out on a daily basis and in particular, will need to adopt if they are to comply with new legislation. Trimble FastMap Mobile Drainage Network Surveyor is a specialist system for a specialist job and its development has been based on a single ethos—how can contractors increase their accuracy, productivity, and efficiency. For example, using the Trimble FastMap Mobile Drainage Network Surveyor system, manholes can be surveyed in one process by a single operator as opposed to using traditional methods where a team of two would be required to undertake up to six separate elements to complete the same work. By carrying out these processes automatically using the Trimble FastMap Mobile Drainage Network Surveyor system, the required accuracy can be achieved and the job completed many times faster. Especially in the current economic climate contractors have to be able to justify their costs and that’s why we have tailored this system so specifically to a single industry’s requirements - to save time and money.”