Erosion Control June 2012 : Page 58

Water Act requirements,” says Davis. “Deployed in 2011, the system now automates major aspects of the Division of Water Quality’s operations, allowing the division more effectively to review, approve, and track construction proj-ects; receive, investigate, and prioritize requests for service; generate and assign work orders and reports and automate work scheduling; build an easily acces-sible asset library and maintenance his-tory; and regulate discharge of materials into water assets, including tracking and monitoring of erosion sites, in order to prevent stormwater pollution.” Two aspects of the software that were considered during LFUCG’s software selection process were the Accela sys-tem’s advanced GIS mapping, which, Davis explains, “tightly integrates with ESRI’s ArcGIS for Server software” and mobile functionality. Redlands, CA–based GIS giant ESRI’s ArcGIS for Server software, which ap-pears in basic, standard, and advanced editions, allows users to take the site information they generate and make it more readily available within a network. Geodatabase replication, geodatabase management, web mapping applica-tions, and geoprocessing are examples of the program’s capabilities. “Field-based inspection and mainte-nance teams can easily and consistently track the location and status of sani-tary sewer and stormwater data, further boosting preventative maintenance of critical water-quality assets,” Davis says of LFUCG. “These workers can also access the same data as LFUCG’s back-office staff and enjoy a similar user experience on their devices—includ-ing maps, current work assignments, and historical information. This enables them to maximize staff schedules, and to perform key functions and reporting at the asset site, rather than spend hours in the office for data entry or other coordination. Operating from a cen-tralized database, Accela Automation allows users to share information across departments and to easily configure ap-plication types, business processes, fees, and reports based on the needs of the specific worker or situation.” He discusses how this could help a project site where significant erosion has been a concern. “At an erosion site, for example, they can log in the particulars of the problem and access the history of a particular site in terms of previous work done, workers who previously handled the problem, equip-ment used, the equipment’s mainte-nance history, and so on. All of this boosts efficiency by allowing field staff to identify, address, and rectify erosion problems quickly.” With the growing need for erosion control solutions to meet ever-changing regulations, advances in modeling soft-ware and GIS, coupled with experienced project design and management, can only promise a brighter future for the industry. EC Tara Beecham is a frequent contributor to Forester publications. Scan here to share this article or read later. Get the app at http://gettag.mobi Available at .net! ForesterUniversity Watch a video. Take a quiz. Earn CEUs / PDHs! Purchase Forester University’s on-demand Dirt Time video series hosted by John McCullah, and gain real-world ﬁeld sediment and erosion control training anytime, anywhere. Choose from 5 video packages designed to deliver the training you need, when and where you want. Like us @ Forester.University Follow us @ ForesterU Add us @ Forester.University Subscribe @ ForesterUniversity s&ULL$IRT4IME4RAINING0ACKAGE#%5S&#0f;
0$(S s"ESTOF$IRT4IME4RAINING#%5&#0f;
0$(S s%ROSION#ONTROL3OIL3TABILIZATION
&#0e;#%5&#0f;0$(S s2UNOFF#ONTROL#HANNEL0ROTECTION
&#0e;#%5&#0f;0$(S s"IOENGINEERING3TREAM"ANK3TABILIZATION
&#0e;#%5&#0f;0$(S today @ Purchase ersity.net! ForesterUniv FU_EC1203_Dirt_5P Develop your skills and earn PDH/CEU credits at Forester University–without the hassle. 58 EROSION CONTROL WWW.EROSIONCONTROL.COM