For the last several we have been taking a variety of survey samples on the arroyo located east of the University. Our group the “Camels” consisted of Alberto Guerrero, Ramon Jimenez, and Michael Vigil. For weeks we would took several methods such as the Vertical Curve, Cut and Fill, and a couple of other methods. One of the best parts about working with this project was the different type of equipment used to perform these tasks.
The purpose of these labs was to gather data so we could build a road. The design was 600’ and it started on top of the hill near the benchmark and went across the arroyo. The first part of this lab we had to layout stakes at 100’ stations with a measuring tape. We decided as a group the location and in which direction we wanted to align it. Some of the factors were that it wasn’t even terrain, and there were bushes, these made it a little more difficult to chose the lay out.
The next step was to take elevation points of the stakes and we used a digital level and we closed our loop. After gathering this data the following week we went to field we realized that some of our stakes were pulled out. We used the benchmark to still gather data near our area. The benchmark was important in located the location of those stakes. That same lab we conducted a static GPS surveys on those points. Once we activated the GPS we would stand at each point for 10 minutes. The reason for this was to adjust our points for alignment and distance. This lab got us an idea of what the terrain and topography of the area.
Once this data was collected we took the level and conducted super elevations. During this procedure we would find the outside of the road. We will also conduct the cut and fill. We stager stakes around the points and take different readings. We will take two different readings on each side and it will show us the crown or centerline of the road. The road should be 40’ so the center line is 20’. The cross slope was suppose to be 2% slope to end of the road. Our road with percentage came out to 15’ to centerline. This allowed us to have the proper slope. One of the partners in our group has more experience with survey and he mention we would take a lot more test if we wanted more accurate results. With the time we had we got most of the important data. This day we had a lot of natural interference. It was really windy but we finished the lab.
Working on the AutoCAD profile was tough for me. Michael has had previous experience with a similar project. He was the driver on this part. We did what we could to help him but his AutoCAD skills are far more advance than mine. What I found the most interesting of this whole lab was the different procedure we did so we could produce one solid project. We had to take a lot of factors including weather, terrain, and other variables. Each procedure would we used different tools and equipment giving us a little bit of experience on each one. The image below is the location on the location of the project and the AutoCAD profile is attached.
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