Map-making has come a long way since Lewis and Clark set off on their cross-country trek to the Pacific Northwest more than 200 years ago. By offering views from above and below, today’s detailed geospatial data lets first responders and public safety officials respond to emergencies quickly and collaborate across agency boundaries.

By Beau Turner, Director Business Development, Building Solutions Group, Avatech Solutions Originially published in [acronym] magazine, Issue 10 The severity of the current economic downturn has seen the public sector striving to increase the value of its services. While private construction projects languish due to the credit crunch, new government building projects are emerging to create jobs and keep the economy moving. In the midst of this opportunity, government decision makers are under even more pressure than usual to ensure optimal use of tax dollars.

Many government agencies continue to drive innovation and achieve cost savings while adjusting to budget cuts and increased pressure for accountability from taxpayers. Here is [acronym] online’s pick of some of the more notable public sector projects that have achieved more with less through design, engineering, and process management innovation.

Unless you are involved in building or facilities management, few designers encounter, or are required to support, post-build issues such as power cuts, or suffer the associated productivity and economic losses that power cuts can cause. [acronym] online’s, Vinny Poliseno, talked to Mark Ascolese of EDSA about making power systems “perfect on paper” before a single building foundation is laid.

Got questions? We’ve got answers. Each issue our team of experts weighs in on a variety of topical issues relevant to public sector digital design. In this issue our team of experts includes leading technical and public sector experts from Avatech Solutions, CADD Centers of Florida, U.S. CAD, and CADD Microsystems. With the weight of current economic pressures on business organizations and government agencies alike, we asked our network of experts to weigh in on the following question:

The Route 22/322 Lewistown Narrows Project was PennDOT’s second largest construction project and most complex project ever undertaken. Once considered one of the most dangerous roads in the United States, the Narrows Project consisted of expanding a two-lane roadway into a modern four-lane limited access expressway. This 10 mile, $142 million project represents an example of award-winning innovation and ingenuity having overcome numerous challenges to finish a year ahead of schedule. Here are a few facts and figures of how PennDOT not only overcame challenges but surpassed expectations.

Shaan Hurley is a passionate and public Autodesk figure. His blog, “Between the Lines,” was the first recognized CAD industry blog back in 2003. Despite working for Autodesk for more than 10 years, Shaan considers himself to be a product user and customer evangelist first and an Autodesk employee second.

Imagine you are standing in the lobby of your new civic center. To the left, you see the reception area and foyer meeting space. With a movement of the mouse your view switches to what you would see if you were looking outside the south window. Switch off the structural view to see all the electrical and piping systems tracing their outlines above and around you as you walk toward the elevator. No, this is not a movie and no you are not on the holodeck of Star Trek’s Enterprise. You are experiencing a building information model where design visualization crosses the line into design virtualization. Real 3D design is now pervasive; driven by the vast improvement in understanding that designers and clients gain. Today, anyone can walk down the street to Home Depot to obtain 3D drawings of a new custom kitchen renovation project from multiple angles. They aren’t in color and don’t show the details of materials and lighting effects, but they are a vast improvement over that of a 2D plan, which most people cannot picture. Large building projects are taking the pervasiveness of 3D, combined with the power of building information models a step or two further down the visualization line – adding color, materials and lighting effects at the basic end, and comprehensive, animated, virtual walking tours at the higher end.

Earlier this year Autodesk declared it was turning the lights out on AutoCAD® Land Desktop with its 2009 version release. This news was not so surprising since Autodesk has been evangelizing the benefits of migrating users to AutoCAD® Civil 3D for some time. However, while Civil 3D is regarded as the creme-de-la-creme of civil design software, it has also been perceived as somewhat too heavy-handed for the needs of certain users. Cognizant of this, Autodesk has taken the step of looking beyond LDT to introduce technology solutions that better fits the needs of civil engineering organizations. We explore AutoCAD® Civil and explain the key differences between it and AutoCAD Civil 3D to help you make the right choice for your civil engineering needs.

The City of Roseville Environmental Utilities Department Streamlines CAD & GIS Workflow Processes While Getting a Grip on Rapid Growth. Located a few miles to the north east of Sacramento, CA, the City of Roseville, California, began as a sleepy railroad town. Recent years have seen the city grow outward in all directions with an expansive industrial zone that is headquarters to many large corporations. With just four full time employees, the City of Roseville’s Environmental Utilities Department (REUD) needed to scale quickly and efficiently to handle the challenges of managing and maintaining its extensive utilities infrastructure, without increasing head count.