SMART Surveying
Issue 4 2010 / 4 August 2010 /
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is an overwhelmingly popular rail initiative in Northern California and is to begin service in 2014. Planners estimate that the new commuter rail system can be built for approximately $7.1 million dollars per mile, which compares very favourably to the cost of extending other local systems.
The Northwestern Pacific railway corridor has been out of service since 1994. The right of way is overgrown in many areas, two existing tunnels will need to be refurbished and the entire track will be redesigned and replaced. One of the first steps in the redesign of the track, is an accurate survey of the existing 70 miles of track. This means good coordinates at regular intervals on both rails. Planners and designers needed to know the location, super-elevation, gauge (distance between the rails), location of switches, etc. This is a major undertaking. (more…)
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