In the summer of 2019, Morgan & Eklund, Inc. was subcontracted by Stantec Consulting Services, Inc. to provide professional survey services for East Naples Bay Dredging—Canal Surveying and Volume Calculations. This hydrographic survey was designed and executed to support Stantec’s ongoing work with the City of Naples, under the Professional Services Library of Consultants for the East Naples Bay Dredging Project. The purpose of this phase of work was to assess the geophysical condition of the canal system and, in doing so, accurately estimate the sediment depth mapping and rock volumes found in the East Naples Bay canals at the time.
Morgan & Eklund, Inc. collected canal elevation data by deploying a suite of hydrographic and bathymetric survey equipment—comprising a 16’ G3 jon boat, real-time kinematic GPS system, multibeam echosounder, hypack navigation software and heave, and pitch and roll compensator—to render high-resolution bathymetric data and detailed imagery of bottom profiles and canal cross-sections.
Water surface elevations were measured by Real-Time Kineamtic GNSS/INS and verified to a tide staff elevated from an FDEP Range Monument using differential leveling.
To ensure quality control, a series of procedures were carried out before and after bathymetric profiles. Echosounders were calibrated using a metal plate device lowered to a known depth at which Morgan & Eklund field teams were able to compare the measured depth; this process is known as a ‘bar check’. In addition to performing a ‘bar check’, closed-loop level runs, correlation verifications, and historical profile data comparisons were used as quality control measures.
