I recently took part in a three day Terramodel training class put on by Keystone Precision Instruments and taught by Bruce Flora, LS of Virginia.  Bruce is a land surveyor that has been involved with machine control since its inception.  He is an industry veteran and a dynamic speaker.  If you ever have the chance to take one of his classes or seminars, I would highly recommend him.  He is certainly a good teacher. 

I have been involved with machine control for quite a few years, but I have always used AutoCAD Land Development Desktop as my primary 3D surface model building tool.  Since I was “brought up” on AutoCAD it was always my comfort zone and that is what I have always utilized to build my 3D surface models. 

I own Terramodel, along with just about every other design software, and I had the Terramodel when I worked in the construction industry, but I never really used it.  I used it on a few occasions to convert some files, but I really only knew enough to be dangerous.  I wanted to take the class in order to better understand the software and its capabilities.  I think it is important to understand what software is being used by its respected industry and what each software can do.  I believe if you have the right people, you can use just about any software to build a 3D surface model, but the right software can certainly help the right people make a project more successful.  

However, this article is not about Terramodel, or any other software, it is about what we learned, how we learned it and what I took away from the class from a business and land surveying standpoint. 

The class was comprised of about a dozen people.  A few of the people, including myself, were surveyors that worked for a land surveying company, some of the people were construction surveyors that worked for construction companies and the rest were personnel in the construction industry including superintendents, project managers and owners.

As a land surveyor that is heavily involved with machine control as part of my business, I would really like to see more construction surveyors and construction personnel take part this class or one similar to it.  Not because I want construction companies to build their own 3D surface models, but because it was a great way for the construction surveyors, project managers, superintendents and owners to see what it really takes to build a constructible 3D model for a project. 

Since we actually went through many of the steps in building a model with the software, everyone got a great first hand look at what it really takes to build a “good” 3D surface model not just how to build a 3D model with the software.  Since Bruce is a land surveyor and an industry veteran, and not just a software expert, he thoroughly understands what is involved in producing an accurate and correct model and he does a great job of stressing the importance checking and rechecking every aspect of the project plans and the 3D model to insure it is correct.  He just doesn’t teach how to use the software, he teaches how to use the software as a tool to properly build a 3D model. 

I believe there is a misconception in the construction industry for many people that believe you can just take design plans in AutoCAD or Microstation format and just import them into your machine control equipment and you are all set to build your project.  This is certainly not the case.  The electronic drawing files are only the beginning.  As land surveyors, how many times have we asked a contractor for electronic drawing files for construction layout and they tell us to talk directly to the engineer or the CAD technician because they don’t understand the language we are speaking.  Now we are adding linework files, surface files, point files, control or configuration files into the mix.  If it was confusing and hard to understand when we were just looking for drawing files, imagine how confusing it is now. 

If it were possible, I would like to see all of my clients take a training class such as this.  Not because they need the training on how to build a 3D model, but it gives them a true perspective and understanding of what it takes to truly build a constructible model.  It would help them better understand that when we are building a 3D model, we are thoroughly reviewing the plans and finding many of the potential issue areas, the non constructible areas and we are doing it before the project beings.  They would also better understand that the 3D models cannot be built overnight and it takes time to build them right and there are costs associated with doing it right the first time.

Normally, it isn’t good business practice to train or teach your clients how to do your job and do it correctly, but in this case, I believe that training the client in what we do and how we do it, may be the best way to continue to get work.  From a business standpoint, the more construction personnel know about 3D model building and understand it the more opportunities we are going to have.  The construction industry is very time sensitive.  When contractors better realize the time and effort it takes to build a “good” model, the more opportunities there are going to be for land surveyors that have adapted to this market.

When I was working in the construction industry, I generally did not build the 3D models for my projects.  I was too busy getting the job up and running and trying to manage the project.  There was no way to successfully manage a project and take the time to build a 3D model.  I would almost always outsource the 3D models.  I did take the time do a thorough review on the models when they were done, but the bulk of the work and the heavy lifting was outsourced so I could concentrate on getting the project moving forward.  As more and more people in the construction industry figure this out, there will be opportunities.  

I went to a Terramodel training class to learn the software.  I got a lot more out of the class than just how to use the software.  The construction personnel were also there to learn the software, but I believe many of them learned that 3D model building is a learned skill set that takes time and because of the nature of the business, it is time they do not have.

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