Surveying Students Contribute to Shire Model

South Regional Tafe surveying lecturers Sara-Jayne Plunkett & Bill Chernabaeff have teamed up with the Shire’s engineering team to provide an opportunity for the Tafe students to apply their learnt skills to a real world scenario.

The students applied their classroom knowledge to a site in Boyanup last week to create a contour survey which will form part of a Shire model to identify potential flood risk areas.

Shire of Capel Engineering Development Coordinator Andrew Coulson said the contour survey would measure the volume of basins in Boyanup and this would form part of a model to identify where drainage needs to be implemented.

Mr Coulson said the Shire’s drainage strategy was adopted at the September Council meeting and surveying the drainage network and basins in Boyanup were one of the first actions to be implemented as part of the strategy.

He said increasing the drainage networks capacity, would enable further development in the town site, because the clay soil doesn’t allow natural infiltration of storm water.

Surveying lecturer Sara-Jayne Plunkett said it was invaluable for the first and second year students to apply their practiced surveying skills to a real world scenario.

She said from the contour survey the students had conducted the Shire would be able to identify not only flood risk areas but also where water would flow and sit on road areas.

The students used the latest technology to conduct the surveys, including drones, GNSS, total stations and levelling equipment.