Munton’s Embankment Culvert Laser Scan Survey
Stowmarket, Suffolk

The Brief

Geoterra was appointed by Taziker Industrial to carry out a 3D topographical laser subsurface scan survey of a drainage culvert running beneath the railway embankment in Stowmarket, Suffolk.

The survey data was required to assess the location and alignment of the culvert. The dimensions, integrity and any possible damage to the culvert was also assessed as no previous surveys had been carried out. The survey data was required in order to fit a made to measure alloy sleeve within the culvert to maintain its future integrity and flow capabilities. At the time of the survey, the culvert contained a small amount of flowing water, but prior to the survey, it had been jetted to remove a large amount of sediment buildup.

The Solution

Geoterra experienced geospatial engineers utilised both a specialist FARO laser scanner to survey the culvert as well as a GeoSLAM ZEB REVO laser scanner mounted on a backpack with a handheld unit to survey the embankment and surrounding locale. The ZEB REVO scans were carried out by walking from a surface baseline at the culvert portals around the locale. For the FARO scans, the scanner was set up within the culvert and a 3D laser scan carried out every 10m so that every feature of the culvert would be surveyed. 3D laser scans were also taken at each portal in order to generate a complete 3D model of the drainage culvert. 10m intervals were chosen as the culverts were approximately 40m long and it was split up into smaller sections to ensure accuracy and achieve a high level of detail.

The surveys were geo-referenced to OSGB36 National Grid.  

The Deliverables

Geoterra provided the Taziker Industrial with a combined geo-referenced 3D laser scan point cloud of the culvert as well as the surface locale surrounding them, in RCS/RCP & DXF for viewing in Navisworks. An updated topographical plan was also supplied after being extracted from the ZEB REVO data.