When HMB needed specialized river channel data for a bridge survey in Tennessee, they knew who to call. The firm turned to DRMP for bathymetric surveying expertise to help meet a seven-week schedule for the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).
DRMP brought multibeam sonar equipment and an experienced survey team to the assignment. The team also used Starlink, a satellite internet service, for the first time on its survey boat, saving hours of data collection time along a challenging riverbank.
The project involved the Zinc Plant Road Bridge over the Cumberland River in Clarksville, northwest of Nashville. Planned improvements will support anticipated increases in truck traffic associated with the Crucible Metals facility, a metals smelting and refining operation. TDOT has selected replacement of the bridge’s superstructure, the portion supported by the piers and abutments, to strengthen the crossing.
As the prime consultant for the survey assignment, HMB collected information about the roadway, bridge and surrounding terrain. The assignment also required underwater data to help engineers evaluate scour around the bridge piers, assess their condition and determine whether repairs are needed.
Ben Fasig, PLS, HMB’s Tennessee survey division manager, knew DRMP could provide that specialized support through an earlier conversation with Brent Bass, DRMP’s vice president and Southwest Florida regional survey manager, at a Trilon Group summit.
As sister firms within the Trilon Group, HMB and DRMP could draw on each other’s capabilities. The connection between Fasig and Bass brought their teams together to support the bridge survey.
From Fieldwork to Data Handoff
Before traveling to Tennessee, DRMP arranged a separate support boat and captain. HMB’s team provided a control point for DRMP’s base station, helping connect the underwater survey with the overall assignment.
HMB had seven weeks to deliver the complete survey to TDOT. Within that schedule, DRMP’s team traveled from Orlando on a Monday, collected the underwater data Tuesday and processed it that evening. By Wednesday, the team handed the processed data to HMB.
“We’re very appreciative that they were able to respond as quickly as they did,” Fasig said.
DRMP’s work covered the river channel extending 200 feet upstream and downstream of the bridge, including scour around the pier footings. The resulting data complemented HMB’s ground survey, mobile and aerial LiDAR work, providing underwater information for the broader engineering design survey.
Saving Hours Along a Challenging Riverbank
Julio Gutierrez, CST I, a survey analyst in DRMP’s Orlando office, operated the bathymetric survey software and processed the data. His experience includes similar assignments at Florida bridges, piers and ponds.
Typically, the team sets up an onshore field table with an antenna that must remain within sight of the survey boat. On the Cumberland River, maintaining that connection would have required moving the setup several times along a steep, muddy bank where placing equipment was difficult.
Starlink eliminated those moves by allowing Gutierrez to communicate with the survey boat’s onboard computer from the truck.
“Being able to avoid all of that shaved hours of time from the collection,” Gutierrez said.
The setup also reduced the number of DRMP team members needed for the work by one. While Gutierrez operated the software from the truck, Cole Campbell, CST I, a DRMP survey analyst, controlled the remote-controlled survey boat from a separate support boat with a captain. The two coordinated by phone throughout data collection.
With fewer equipment moves and a two-person DRMP crew, the team completed data collection and processing in one day, preparing the information for Wednesday’s handoff.
Shared Expertise Supports Client Needs
HMB incorporated DRMP’s underwater data into its larger assignment and subsequently completed its survey submission to TDOT.
The project put a connection made at a Trilon Group summit into practice. HMB accessed DRMP’s specialized equipment and bathymetric surveying experience to support its broader survey assignment and meet the client’s schedule.
“We appreciate HMB trusting us,” Gutierrez said. “Their coordination helped us get to work quickly, and we were glad to contribute our bathymetric surveying experience to help meet TDOT’s schedule.”
