AEW’s Unique, Green and Practical New “GPS Bikes”

Posted on September 15, 2017

A first for AEW, specially modified bicycles to assist our Survey Crews in the field. The “Surveycycle” was the brainchild of Mike Truax, AEW’s Survey Manager, and he and his team worked to outfit the bikes with all the necessary professional equipment.

AEW’s newest addition to our equipment stable includes two specially modified bicycles to facilitiate gathering Geographic Information Systems (GIS) datapoints in an urban environment. The bikes are outfitted with a GPS data collector and receiver, a device to mark already surveyed datapoints with marking paint, a basket, a cup holder, and AEW logos.

They will be put to their first service test in the City of Sterling Heights, Michigan’s fourth largest city in population, and covering 36.8 square miles. We have been contracted to develop and enhance the city’s GIS by obtaining accurate GPS locations for its sanitary, storm and water utility structures.

The bikes are “green,” will enable our crews to maneuver more readily, and they’ll join our fleet of equipment that includes trucks, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones), and an ATV to better serve our clients with the on- and off-road equipment and technology necessary to get the job done efficiently and accurately. The bikes are “green,” will enable our crews to maneuver more readily, and they’ll join our fleet of equipment that includes trucks, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones),  and an ATV to better serve our clients with the on- and off-road equipment and technology necessary to get the job done efficiently and accurately

Survey crews will obtain subfoot positions of all structures (approximately 60,000).  The surveyed locations will be used by our GIS department to develop the infrastructure layers by connecting over 1,900 miles of the city’s sanitary, storm and water utilities. Scanned “as-built” plans will also be attached to the GIS. The resulting GIS layers will be a highly accurate, feature-rich infrastructure layer that will benefit the city’s Department of Public Works, Building and Planning departments. Funding is facilitated by a State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) Stormwater, Asset Management, and Wastewater (SAW) Grant.

Founded in 1968, Anderson, Eckstein & Westrick (AEW) is a leading design firm providing civil engineering, architecture, geographic information systems (GIS) consulting and surveying services to municipal, institutional and private clients. We are committed to the enduring strength of our communities through innovation, value and engineering excellence.