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| GIS project saves city thousands of dollars |
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Two
students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle saved city
officials about $25,000 by completing a geodatabase to help them maintain their
roadway infrastructures and storm water management system. Ryan Butler, an environmental studies major from Fort Fairfield, and Chad Junkins, a business major from Ashland, used Geographic Information Systems [GIS] technology this summer to gather piles of data on each of the city's 700 sidewalks, 1,050 curbs and 636 catch basins. GIS is a computing system designed to capture, store, analyze, and display geographic information and spatial data. Butler and Junkins got involved in the project because of their participation in the University's GIS program. Earlier this year, the GIS program partnered with the Presque Isle Public Works Department to create a road and highway inventory and to map the flow of water run-off through the city's catch basins. Some of the information the students gathered for the project included the length and condition of each curb and sidewalk, where water from each catch basin and culvert eventually drains, and the Global Positioning System coordinates for every item. With the help of their professor, Dr. Chunzeng Wang, the students used that information to create a geodatabase that allows officials to better maintain their infrastructure and pinpoint problems. For example, according to Gerry James, the city's public works director, when a city culvert gets clogged with ice this winter, crews won't have to wade through deep slush to find it. The precise location of the culvert will be just a mouse click away. "It's amazing," James said of the database. "I don't really know its full potential yet, but I know it's going to save me a lot of time and money." In fact, the project already has. If the City had hired a contractor and paid for the software, computers, and GPS units on its own, James said it would have cost about $25,000 to $30,000. Instead, the GIS program used its own equipment and did the work for much less. To date, the city has spent less than $5,000 on the project. Most of that money was used to pay the student interns $8 an hour, 40 hours a week, for nine weeks' worth of work. "The City now has the first GIS database in its history," Wang, an assistant professor of earth and environmental science, said of the project's importance. "The method of memorizing and recording city infrastructure features with human brains and old maps is now a thing of the past." While the project has huge and immediate benefits for the city, Wang said it also is highly rewarding for his students. "The project enhances student achievement by providing opportunities to connect theory with practice," Wang said. "They are able to experience first-hand how their respective areas of study are applied outside of an academic setting. Students' engagement in the projects also promotes their community understanding and self-discovery." Student Ryan Butler was quick to agree. "I know that using this technology is only going to benefit me in the long run," Butler said. "I'll have to use this software once I get out there anyway, and if I don't know how to use it now, I'll be behind in the workforce... The other good thing is that I know I was a part of something that greatly benefits the area." With the success of this project, Wang said others are in the works. There are plans for the GIS program to provide a real world research project for the Central Aroostook Math and Science Partnership. As part of the grant program, local teachers will work with the GIS program to engage local students in a GIS mapping of Presque Isle's major infrastructures. And James plans to do another project next summer to map the city's underground piping system. Word has spread from there. "Now all the city departments are interested in GIS," Wang said. "The City is asking me what else they can use GIS for. They want to set up a partnership." He said the possibilities are nearly endless - GIS can help to map sewer systems, create more precise tax maps, and pinpoint every fire hydrant in the city. And that could lead to more projects in the future. Wang's hope is to set up a GIS Lab, funded by local municipalities who want help in completing GIS projects and learning how to use the databases. "People are realizing how important GIS is in helping with city planning," Wang said. "And with this we all benefit. They have projects to do and our students learn." |
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University of Maine at Presque Isle
181 Main Street
Presque Isle, ME 04769
207.768.9400
A member of the University of Maine System
181 Main Street
Presque Isle, ME 04769
207.768.9400
A member of the University of Maine System