Photo By Capt. Laura Beebe | Pfc. Eli Vick, a technical engineer assigned to the survey and design section, JTF...... read more read more
By Staff Sgt. James Hare
Squad Leader, J7, JTF Sapper
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The problem set in front of them was an existing compound with drainage issues, a difficult task for any normal skilled engineer. However, the engineers of the Theater Engineer Brigade’s J7, survey and design section, tackle the task while deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom XIV.
The TEB, based out of Bagram Air Force Base, is currently under the command of Col. Diana Holland, 130th Engineer Brigade commander, from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Approximately 30 soldiers, airmen, and Navy Seabees, from active duty, Reserve and National Guard, are in the J7 headquarters. The mixture of services and duty statuses give the J7 section an assortment of knowledge and viewpoints to draw from. Within the J7, the survey and design section is comprised of diversity and specialty in occupation specialty, which delivers dynamic output in geodetic surveying, topographical surveying, materials testing, drafting, and most importantly quality assurance of troop construction projects across the country. These soldiers are highly skilled in survey and design operations using programs such as AutoCAD and Terramodel to help facilitate the planning and building of construction projects within the Combined Joint Operational Area - Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. James Rector, JTF Sapper J7, explained, “Horizontal projects are highly technical for survey team. Starting back at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, our teams perfected their survey and design techniques on multiple horizontal projects supporting Army, Navy and Marine Corps installations and training areas.”
The surveying for this project was broken down into two teams, each consisting of a technical engineering noncommissioned officer and five technical engineering specialists. Each team was given specific areas of responsibility to collect the existing topographical data utilizing GNSS R8 equipment.
Employing the following GPS survey set, uses global positioning satellites to display and collect the precise location and elevation of any point that is recorded by the operator. The surveying teams used this equipment to collect data and information of the existing earth surface, as well as, existing buildings, sidewalks, ditches, roads and any other features relevant to calculating the correct amount of drainage for this project.
Once all of the information has been collected the survey teams input the data into computer aided drafting programs, which will allow them to design drainage mitigation solutions specific to the project.
The surveying team was able to provide the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with a complete design of how to mitigate the troublesome drainage issue on Camp Alpha located in Bagram Air Field.
Through the high level of technical expertise displayed by these soldiers they were able to design multiple swales and culverts to be emplaced throughout the site. Using the survey data collected, they were able to find the direction of travel for storm water and able to design ways to divert the water to a more suitable location for drainage.
The TEB J7 survey and design section has proven to be a viable asset not only to the theater engineer brigade, but to all constructing elements located on Bagram Air Field and throughout the country of Afghanistan.
“Our work induction process drives all engineer effort across Afghanistan. The survey and design teams are the key piece of this process,” Rector remarked. “Without their expertise we would not be able to synchronize engineer resources adequately across the theater."
| Date Taken: | 10.26.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 10.31.2013 02:32 |
| Story ID: | 115988 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 332 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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