The services offered by ALS, Inc. have encompassed a range of surveying disciplines, as well as engineering design and construction and contractor coordination.
Land and Boundary Surveying
Land surveying is a vital service required in the ownership and transfer of land titles. Since his earliest days in the profession, Andy Sikes has approached this work with a deliberate application of the science of measurement and the art of interpreting land boundary principles. ALS, Inc. has provided surveys to update decades-old descriptions and address boundary disputes. The firm has also provided vital field survey documentation and assessments of current conditions for industrial clients as the basis for plant remodeling, operational improvement, long-range planning, and regulatory compliance.
Specific land surveying services have included land title surveys, standard land boundary surveys, TSPS Category 1A and ALTA surveys, route surveys, location surveys, construction surveys, right-of-way surveys, topographic surveys, and investigative surveys
Hydrographic Surveys
Hydrographic or bathymetric surveying is a highly specialized practice. Mr. Sikes’ first full-time job after graduating from college was performing hydrographic surveying with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) on projects along the Atlantic coast from Connecticut to Puerto Rico. For decades, ALS, Inc., maintained a boat modified to meet the specific technical needs of hydrographic surveying. The firms’ surveys of inland waterways have provided critical input to engineering projects to determine the volume of detention ponds, establish pay volumes for dredging projects, update the flow and topography of Buffalo Bayou, determine the floodplain and boundary of the Brazos River, widen Brays Bayou through the Texas Medical Center following Tropical Storm Allison.
Aerial Photography, Orthometric Imaging, and Aerial Mapping
ALS, Inc., began making aerial maps and photographs in 1992, always with the latest technology available. The firm has provided maps and orthometric images to clients ranging from highway departments and property developers to owners of stockpiles and detention ponds.
Aerial mapping is a powerful, time-saving surveying technique that uses two images to create a stereo photograph, which can be used to calculate measurements on the ground. Aerial photographs can also be used alone in surveying. However, in their raw form, they are full of distortions that have to be addressed in a process called orthometric correction. The “key stone” effect, in which one edge of the image is stretched, can be rectified by comparing the image to earlier photographs, maps, or surveys. Relief displacement, caused by changes in elevation, must be corrected using a digital terrain model, often incorporating data from LiDAR, GPS, or conventional ground survey control points. With custom orthometric correction, aerial images can be used to obtain accurate measurements and serve as a base or control layer for graphical information systems (GIS).
Over more than three decades, ALS, Inc. has produced an inventory of more than 8,000 square miles of orthometrically corrected color aerial photographs, as well as thousands of acres of topographic maps with contours as close as six inches. These include a complete library of orthographic images of Harris County, Texas, and adjoining counties