SurvTech Solutions enjoys a long-standing relationship with supporting USACE districts with multiple geospatial technologies and services. On a recent project with the Jacksonville District, SurvTech was tasked with collecting UAV LiDAR and acoustic bathymetric data to support the design and rehabilitation initiatives of the Port of Miami Inlet Jetty.
Location – The Port of Miami is located in the northern part of Biscayne Bay and along both banks of the lower part of the Miami River. The inlet is the primary deepwater navigation entrance with heavy traffic entrance. This inlet is how the Government Cut connecting local and significant transatlantic traffic with the port facilities and turning basin. The jetties protect the dredge navigation channel.
Approach – The task consisted of obtaining topographic survey data and multi-beam bathymetric data. LiDAR from a UAV was used to capture the current upland topography of the inlet jetty, and multi-beam and side-scan sonar was used to capture the subaqueous bathymetric data.
Multi-beam – The sonar data was acquired at high tide. The vessel used was a 25-foot survey vessel with a cabin equipped with a Norbit iWBMS integrated wideband sonar multi-beam. Hypack RTK tide values were cross-checked against a secondary GPS rover and verified against a nearby NGS Benchmark.
Side-Scan Sonar – The data was acquired with an Edgetech 4125. Side-scan data was processed using Sonar Wiz. We obtained the position data using hemisphere DGPS and manual layback.
UAV LiDAR – A Harris H6 Hybrid (Gas/Electric) UAV equipped with a LiDAR USA Riegl Vux LiDAR system was used to collect high-density LiDAR data of the upland portion of the project, including the jetty, surrounding beach, and wharf. LiDAR data was collected with 30% overlap and over 100 points per square meter (ppsm).
All data was processed as a cohesive, seamless data set and delivered in LAS format, providing USACE with incredible detail of the current conditions of the jetty and seafloor.