Degrove Surveyors, working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, recently completed a topographic/hydrographic and structure survey on the Harney Pond Canal in South Florida. The survey covered over 2.5 miles of the Harney Pond Canal, which flows into Lake Okeechobee on the northwest side of the lake. Topographic and hydrographic cross-sections of the canal and bordering levees were surveyed at intervals of 100 feet, and 50 feet in areas with water control structures. Seven water control structures were also surveyed. In combination with the hydrographic portion of the project, Degrove crews completed muck probes in order to determine the thickness of the muck layer that has formed throughout much of the canal. The project supported general monitoring and planning efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Degrove Surveyors, working on a team that included CDM and Bradshaw-Niles & Associates Inc., completed services supporting the design of the International Golf Parkway reclaimed water main to Palencia in St. Johns County, Florida. The work was completed for the St. Johns County Public Works Department. Degrove was responsible for all subsurface utility designations and approximately 90 soft-dig test holes along the 8.5 mile route. Degrove utilized a variety of subsurface location equipment, including electromagnetic locators, ground penetrating radar, and a vacuum excavator. Degrove worked closely with the project surveyor, Bradshaw-Niles, to provide CDM with complete and accurate documentation of the route both above and below ground. The water main will provide reclaimed water to the Palencia development for irrigation of the golf course and common areas.
Degrove Surveyors is near completion of a project on Lake Apopka in Orange County, Florida that will support planning and dredging efforts of the St. Johns River Water Management District. Lake Apopka, once a prime fishing and boating attraction in central Florida, now holds a layer of muck and silt so thick that the lake depths are as low as two or three feet throughout much of the lake.
In order to support the St. Johns River Water Management District in their planning efforts, Degrove is completing a Hydrographic Survey of specified transects of the lake, as well as 1,700 muck probes on grids varying between 50, 100, and 200 feet. The hydrographic data was calibrated to determine a consistent lake bottom in very inconsistent bottom densities. The muck probes are being completed using survey range poles with a water pump system attached. The water is sprayed through a hose system that is attached to the probing rod, which helps to blow away the dense layers of muck that make it very difficult to probe and determine the depth of the original sand bottom. At each of the 1,700 probe locations, the top of the muck/silt is determined, as well as the depth of the muck above the historical sand bottom of the lake. This data is being used to create two digital surfaces that will assist the engineers in dredge and cost planning. The muck depths in the lake have ranged between seven and 30 feet.
Degrove has been serving SJRWMD for over 15 years and is pleased to continue supporting water management efforts throughout the state of Florida.
