FREEPORT, BAHAMAS
...
ADMIRALTY HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYING
Arc Surveying & Mapping, Inc. has performed topographic and bathymetric projects for the Freeport Harbour Commission (FHC) for more than 15 years.
Most recently Arc performed a bathymetric survey for charting to NOAA and British Admiralty standards.
Freeport Harbour was continuously expanding in preparation of the Panama Canal expansion and is currently to a depth of 65 feet, accepting the largest container ships in the world.
As part of the expansion, FHC constructed new berthing areas such as those pictured.
Using a combination of high resolution multibeam swath soundings and terrestrial laser scanning, combined with precise positioning and motion compensation through a POS/MV, all configured through Hysweep,
Arc provided the models and maps necessary for construction in many formats including AutoCAD, MicroStation, Polyworks, TopoDot and others.
The existing shoreline of Freeport Harbour had been excavated by draglines, leaving a very irregular vertical slope and caverns in the soft coquina rock. The data Arc provided allowed construction designers to visualize the new bulkhead sheeting along the irregular rock face.
Sheeting was driven and grout filled the area including the caverns. Topographic data from the survey vessel was supplemented with static data to provide full coverage of the above water construction site. Backscatter data from the multibeam survey was used to determine bottom surface grain size of sediment.