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the Gulf of Mexico. This survey was accomplished in two and one-half years
by stereoscopic study of 1 :20.000 scale photographs supplemented by field
checks as necessary. With old ground survey methods, only a good start could
have been made with the same personnel in the same length of time.
An example of such saving in time and money in railroad engineering 1s
now going on in Canada. The new railway from the St. Lawrence River to
Knob Lake at the new iron ore development is being built from about 12 dif-
ferent points, using air strips chosen from air photographs. Much preliminary
line for the new railrod has been laid out from the aerial photographs.
Making the most of engineering manpower.
At the 1952 meeting of the Western Association of State Highway Officials,
Mr. Raymond Archibald, Chief of the Western Headquarters of the U.S. Bureau
of Public Roads, expressed alarm at the growing shortage of engineers and pro-
posed ways by which more engineering can be done with fewer engineers. His
timely remarks are presented in the August 1952 issue of Better Roads magazine.
This recent article shows how highway departments can fight the shortage of
engineers by making short-cuts, developing improved methods, and taking every
possible step to conserve the energy of the technical staff. He urges, among other
things, the use of aerial photography to conserve engineering manpower.
Conclusions.
1. Photo interpretation is comparatively new in highway engineering. During
the past decade, tremendous progress has been made in the application of
photo interpretation but maximum benefits have not been realized from its
use.
2. Objectives in highway and railroad engineering are broadly:
(1) Interpretation of geologic and soil patterns
(2) Study of land forms (topography) and land use (culture)
(3) Making of maps (planimetric and topographic).
3. Trained personnel and special short courses are needed for maximum use
of photo interpretation in engineering for highways and railroads. Photo
interpretation may solve, in part at least, the growing shortage of engineers.
Time, manpower, and money are saved over old methods and results are
often superior.
In summation, experience since World War II has shown that more effect-
ive use of air photo interpretation methods fosters a better understanding of
mutual engineering problems. Such use furthers cooperative relationships in
obtaining better engineering results. Consequently, there is a great future in photo
interpretation in highway and railroad engineering. Its use in these fields is
practically unlimited and its application will, no doubt, continue to grow and
expand.
Acknowledgements.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the State Highway Department mem-
bers and others who cooperated in furnishing the information on which this
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