Award presented at 27th Annual ESRI International User Conference in San Diego
June 28, 2007 (Charlton, Mass.) – Chas. H. Sells, Inc. (SELLS) received a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award at the 27th Annual ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, California on Wednesday, June 20. SELLS is one of more than 300,000 organizations worldwide that use geographic information system (GIS) software.
SELLS has been implementing GIS as a central data management system for its field survey/aerial mapping needs. The project was implemented by David A. Webber, PLS, New England Survey Manager, Mike Doyle, GISP, GIS Manager, Blair Henry, Project Surveyor, New England Survey and Ben Kreft, GIS Applications Specialist. Using an ArcGIS Server (ver 9.2) architecture running on a Windows Server Operating System, SELLS developed a geoprocessing model of 800+ processes as a backbone of its application, as well as other tools for creating and converting annotation. Additionally, SELLS’ Survey Division has altered the way they electronically collect field data using Carlson Software’s SurvCE application. This enables field survey staff to collect other attributes using features within SurvCE, instead of written notes in a field book that would have to be hand placed as CAD text back in the office.
SELLS built the system to help develop an in-depth site survey process (common for design plans, etc.) and collect attributes ready for GIS, to enable clients to help populate facilities management solutions as well as Building Information Modeling applications. In particular, one client requested a project in two different vertical datum deliveries – one for site design, the other for GIS. This tool allowed SELLS to import an internal CAD file (using pre-existing standards), convert it into an ArcSDE geodatabase, populate all of the applicable attributes (including different elevations), and export out a client specified CAD standard.
GIS is an organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display all forms of geographically referenced information. Government agencies, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations rely on the software to analyze their communities.
About SELLS
Recognized as one of the nations “Top 500 Design Firms” by the Engineering News Record, and one of the “Top 100 Fastest Growing Engineering Firms” by Zweig White & Associates, SELLS specializes in bridge design/inspection, transportation engineering, land development, land surveying/GPS, photogrammetric mapping and GIS services to public and private sector clients. SELLS, a 250 person engineering firm with 15 offices throughout the East, has a successful history of providing these services since 1925. The firm’s combination of in-depth experience, strategic office locations and qualified staff permits SELLS to complete local projects in both a timely and cost efficient manner.