Methods and apparatus employing a reference grid for generating electronic manifests of underground facility marking operations
A grid is displayed on a display device to provide a reference for a geographic area including an excavation site. User input is acquired that relates to a geographic location of at least one physical locate mark applied by a technician to a ground surface at the excavation site to indicate a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at the excavation site. Based on the user input, at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark is added to the displayed grid so as to generate a marked-up image. Information relating to the marked-up image is electronically stored and/or electronically transmitted so as to generate an electronic manifest.
1. An apparatus for facilitating generation of an electronic manifest of at least one physical locate mark applied to a ground surface by a technician at an excavation site prior to excavation activities, the apparatus comprising:
a communication interface;
a display device;
a memory to store processor-executable instructions; and
a processing unit coupled to the communication interface, the display device, and the memory, wherein upon execution of the processor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processing unit:
controls the display device so as to display at least one grid to provide a reference for a geographic area including the excavation site;
acquires user input from a user input device, the user input relating to a geographic location of the at least one physical locate mark applied by the technician to the ground surface at the excavation site to indicate a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at the excavation site;
further controls the display device to add to the displayed at least one grid, based at least in part on the user input acquired from the user input device, at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark so as to generate a marked-up image including the at least one grid and the at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark; and
controls the communication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmit and/or electronically store information relating to the marked-up image so as to generate the electronic manifest.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the user input includes drawing on the displayed at least one grid via the at least one user input device.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising the user input device, wherein the user input device includes at least one of a stylus, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a keypad, and a keyboard.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the user input device includes a GPS-enabled device;
the user input includes geographic coordinates provided by the GPS-enabled device; and
the processing unit acquires the geographic coordinates from the GPS-enabled device.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the GPS-enabled device is a GPS-enabled marking device used by the technician to apply the at least one physical locate mark to the ground surface at the excavation site.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising the GPS-enabled marking device.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the information electronically transmitted by the communication interface and/or electronically stored by the memory and relating to the marked-up image includes at least one of:
a property address associated with the at least one physical locate mark;
a date or a time indicative of when the technician applied the at least one physical locate mark;
a name of the technician;
a name of a company responsible for the technician;
a name of an excavator performing the excavation activities; and
a ticket number associated with a locate request ticket provided to the technician and relating to the excavation site.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit further controls the display device to display the marked-up image so as to include at least one dig area indicator to provide at least one indication of a dig area at the excavation site.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit further controls the display device to display the marked-up image such that a color of the at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark corresponds to a type of the at least one underground facility.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit further controls the display device to display the marked-up image so as to include at least one indication of at least one of:
a length of the at least one underground facility;
a circumference of the at least one underground facility; and
a material of the at least one underground facility.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the information electronically transmitted by the communication interface and/or electronically stored by the memory and relating to the marked-up image includes at least one of:
a type of the at least one underground facility;
a length of the at least one underground facility;
a circumference of the at least one underground facility; and
a material of the at least one underground facility.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit further controls the display device to display the marked-up image so as to include at least one of:
at least one building;
at least one roadway; and
at least one environmental landmark.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing unit further controls the display device to display the marked-up image so as to include, based at least in part on the user input, offset information relating to a distance between the at least one physical locate mark and the at least one of the at least one building, the at least one roadway, and the at least one environmental landmark.
14. A method for generating an electronic manifest of at least one physical locate mark applied to a ground surface by a technician at an excavation site prior to excavation activities, the method comprising:
A) displaying, on a display device, at least one grid to provide a reference for a geographic area including the excavation site;
B) acquiring user input from a user input device, the user input relating to a geographic location of the at least one physical locate mark applied by the technician to the ground surface at the excavation site to indicate a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at the excavation site;
C) adding to the displayed at least one grid, based at least in part on the user input acquired in B) from the user input device, at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark so as to generate a marked-up image including the at least one grid and the at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark; and
D) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing information relating to the marked-up image so as to generate the electronic manifest.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, prior to B):
receiving, by the technician, a locate request ticket identifying the excavation site; and
applying the at least one physical locate mark to the ground surface pursuant to the locate request ticket so as to indicate the presence or the absence of the at least one underground facility at the excavation site.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein in B), the user input includes drawing on the displayed at least one grid via the at least one user input device.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein in B), the user input includes drawing on the displayed at least one grid via the at least one user input device.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the user input device includes a GPS-enabled device;
the user input includes geographic coordinates provided by the GPS-enabled device; and
B) comprises acquiring the geographic coordinates from the GPS-enabled device.
19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the information electronically transmitted and/or electronically stored in D) includes at least one of:
a property address associated with the at least one physical locate mark;
a date or a time indicative of when the technician applied the at least one physical locate mark;
a name of the technician;
a name of a company responsible for the technician;
a name of an excavator performing the excavation activities; and
a ticket number associated with a locate request ticket provided to the technician and relating to the excavation site.
20. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
displaying the marked-up image so as to include at least one dig area indicator to provide at least one indication of a dig area at the excavation site.
21. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
displaying the marked-up image such that a color of the at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark corresponds to a type of the at least one underground facility.
22. The method of claim 14 , further comprising displaying the marked-up image so as to include at least one indication of at least one of:
a length of the at least one underground facility;
a circumference of the at least one underground facility; and
a material of the at least one underground facility.
23. The method of claim 14 , wherein the information electronically transmitted and/or electronically stored in D) includes at least one of:
a type of the at least one underground facility;
a length of the at least one underground facility;
a circumference of the at least one underground facility; and
a material of the at least one underground facility.
24. The method of claim 14 , further comprising displaying the marked-up image so as to include at least one of:
at least one building;
at least one roadway; and
at least one environmental landmark.
25. The method of claim 24 , further comprising:
displaying the marked-up image so as to include offset information relating to a distance between the at least one physical locate mark and the at least one of the at least one building, the at least one roadway, and the at least one environmental landmark.
26. The method of claim 25 , further comprising:
adding to the at least one grid, via the user input device, the offset information.
27. At least one computer-readable storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed on at least one processing unit, perform a method for generating an electronic manifest of at least one physical locate mark applied to a ground surface by a technician at an excavation site prior to excavation activities, the method comprising:
A) displaying, on a display device, at least one grid to provide a reference for a geographic area including the excavation site;
B) acquiring user input from a user input device, the user input relating to a geographic location of the at least one physical locate mark applied by the technician to the ground surface at the excavation site to indicate a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility at the excavation site;
C) adding to the displayed at least one grid, based at least in part on the user input acquired in B) from the user input device, at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark so as to generate a marked-up image including the at least one grid and the at least one digital representation of the at least one physical locate mark; and
D) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing information relating to the marked-up image so as to generate the electronic manifest.