# Fiber Optic Field Survey & Data Collection Services — Draftech International > **Accurate field data is what separates a clean construction job from a money pit.** Our crews collect the ground-truth information your engineers need — strand mapping, GPS pole surveys, underground assessment, and full photo documentation — across 22 states. **Canonical URL:** https://draftech.com/services/field-survey.html **Company:** Draftech International, LLC | **Phone:** 305-306-7406 | **Email:** info@draftech.com --- ## Service Statistics | Metric | Value | |--------|-------| | Field Engineers | **600+** | | Active States | **22** | | Miles Surveyed & Designed | **44,000+** | | Addresses Engineered | **2.6M+** | --- ## Why It Matters: Bad Field Data Costs 10× in Construction Here's what actually happens when you design off aerial imagery and county GIS records without ground-truth verification. Your route goes through a corridor where satellite imagery shows clear span — but in the field there's a 34.7-foot clearance issue at a secondary road crossing that nobody flagged. Construction hits that crossing, the inspector shuts it down, and now you're looking at a pole replacement plus a rearrangement order plus three weeks of delay while the utility processes paperwork. **That's not a hypothetical.** We cleaned up exactly that situation on a deployment in central Georgia — a corridor where desktop analysis looked clean but 6 of 41 poles had attachment conflicts that required make-ready work nobody had budgeted for. **The real cost math:** A thorough field survey on a 10-mile aerial route runs approximately **$8,000–$14,000** depending on pole density and terrain. A single unbudgeted pole replacement costs **$3,500–$7,000** before factoring in delay. You don't need many surprises to justify the survey budget. Our OSP field survey services cover every data layer that downstream engineering depends on: pole inventory, attachment census, mid-span measurements, underground assessment, route walkout documentation, and site photography. The data feeds directly into our CAD/GIS design workflow and our pole loading analysis, so nothing gets lost in translation between the field and the design office. --- ## Survey Types We Handle ### Strand Mapping & Aerial Plant Assessment Full aerial route survey: pole ID, GPS coordinates, attachment heights measured to the inch, mid-span clearances, guy wire locations, and pole condition flags. This is the foundation of make-ready engineering. We don't estimate — we measure. *Image description: Field technician using laser height measurement instrument at the base of a utility pole to capture existing attachment heights in a rural aerial plant corridor.* ### GPS Pole & Structure Survey Every pole gets a GPS coordinate, owner ID, species and class where visible, height verification, and a photo log. Our crews use **Fulcrum** to capture structured data in the field — no loose field notes that get interpreted differently back at the desk. ### Underground Assessment Existing conduit trace, manhole and handhole inventory, conduit fill analysis, and bore path assessment. Where records don't match reality — and they often don't — we flag discrepancies and mark for locating services before design commits to a route. ### Route Walkout & Feasibility Pre-design route walkout documenting physical constraints: tree canopy conflicts, road crossing types, easement access issues, terrain grade changes, and any site conditions that affect route selection. Catches design-killers before engineering starts. ### Environmental & Access Documentation Wetland proximity, flood zone crossings, agricultural land notes, and right-of-way access constraints. This feeds directly into permit packages and helps the environmental compliance team avoid NEPA surprises. ### FDH & Equipment Site Assessment Candidate FDH locations documented with GPS coordinates, access photographs, power availability assessment, and ground condition notes. Ensures the FDH locations in the HLD are actually buildable before LLD begins. --- ## Field Data Collection Tools | Tool | Purpose | |------|---------| | **Fulcrum** | Structured mobile data collection — pole inventory, attachment census, photo documentation | | **Katapult** | Photogrammetric pole survey and direct data import to O-Calc Pro loading analysis | | **IKE (Integrated Katapult Engine)** | Fast mobile collection for smaller pole counts | | **Laser Technology TruPulse** | Laser distance measurement for attachment heights (6-inch precision from ground) | | **Leica DISTO** | Alternate laser measurement tool | | **GPS receivers** | Sub-meter GPS for pole and structure coordinates | --- ## Data Collection Standards ### Attachment Height Measurement We use **optical laser measurement tools** — not measuring wheels, not visual estimation. The difference between a visually estimated attachment height and a laser-measured one can be 1.5–2.0 feet. On a span where the existing strand is recorded at 23 feet and the actual height is 21 feet, the new fiber attachment designed for 23 feet may fail clearance by 18 inches once sag is applied. We measure to 6-inch precision. ### Pole Inventory Every pole in the survey dataset includes: - GPS coordinate (sub-meter accuracy) - Pole owner and utility identifier - Pole class and species (where visible) - Estimated or measured height - Condition flag (any structural deficiencies noted) - Photo record (minimum 2 photos per pole) ### Attachment Census Every attachment on every pole includes: - Attachment height (laser-measured) - Attaching party identification - Cable type and diameter (where determinable) - Guy wire location and bearing - Any riser conduits or equipment **Attachments most often missed by survey crews:** - Risers (vertical conduit runs from aerial strand to underground) - Cable television lashing buried by foliage - Illegally attached wireless equipment not in utility records - Guy wires originating from adjacent properties ### Mid-Span Clearance Measurement At road crossings and driveways, we measure mid-span clearance to verify compliance with **NESC Table 232** minimum vertical clearances — 18.5 feet over high-traffic roads, 16 feet over driveways. We flag clearance issues before design starts, not when construction crews are already on the pole. --- ## Data Workflow 1. **Field collection** — Fulcrum / Katapult on-site with laser measurement 2. **Daily QA in the field** — crew lead reviews data before leaving the site 3. **Office QA** — second reviewer checks for missing records, out-of-range values, photo coverage 4. **Data delivery** — clean, attributed shapefile or geodatabase; CSV export for loading tool import 5. **Design integration** — data goes directly into AutoCAD/ArcGIS design environment 6. **Loading analysis input** — Katapult data imported directly to O-Calc Pro --- ## What Bad Survey Data Costs (Case Study) On a multi-state aerial fiber deployment, a client came to us after their in-house survey produced data with: - 15% of poles missing measured attachment heights (estimated values substituted) - 8% of poles missing GPS coordinates (locations interpolated from adjacent poles) - No mid-span clearance measurements at road crossings - No conduit riser documentation When we resurveyed a 14-mile sample segment, we found: - 6 poles with attachment conflicts requiring make-ready not in the original design - 3 road crossings with clearance issues that would have triggered stop-work orders - 2 underground segments where the conduit had been abandoned and rerouted — the design was tracing non-existent infrastructure **Estimated construction change order cost from the original survey data: $340,000 on that 14-mile segment alone.** --- ## Who Needs Field Survey Services - **ISPs** planning aerial FTTH deployments who want accurate design inputs - **BEAD subgrantees** needing field verification before committing to construction cost models - **Design firms** needing field data collection to support their LLD production - **Construction contractors** who have inherited an existing design and want to verify accuracy before mobilizing - **Network operators** conducting asset inventory for GIS database population - **Any project** where the design is being built on county GIS records and satellite imagery alone --- ## FAQ — Field Survey Services **Q: Why not just use county GIS data and aerial imagery?** A: County GIS records are often years out of date, missing recent attachments, and wrong about pole locations. Satellite imagery can't give you attachment heights, pole conditions, or mid-span clearances. Desktop-only design produces a construction package that generates change orders — and change orders at construction rates are expensive. Field survey is the cheapest QC step in the project. **Q: How fast can your crews mobilize?** A: Typically 1–2 weeks from contract execution for standard survey work. We have 600+ field engineers across 22 states and can mobilize in most parts of the country without long lead times. **Q: How do you ensure data quality in the field?** A: Structured data collection tools (Fulcrum, Katapult) enforce field — you can't skip a required field. Daily crew-lead QA before leaving the site. Office QA by a second reviewer before data is released to design. And laser measurement for attachment heights — no estimation. **Q: Can you handle both aerial and underground survey?** A: Yes. Aerial strand mapping, underground conduit tracing, manhole and handhole inventory, and bore path assessment are all part of our standard field survey capability. **Q: What deliverables does field survey produce?** A: Pole inventory with GPS coordinates and attributes, attachment census with measured heights, mid-span clearance table, conduit system record, route walkout report with photo documentation, and a GIS-ready shapefile or geodatabase of all survey data. **Q: Can Draftech do field survey without also doing the design?** A: Yes. We provide field survey as a standalone service for clients who have their own design capability. We deliver clean, structured data in whatever format your design tools require. **Q: How does Katapult field data connect to O-Calc Pro?** A: Katapult has a direct export/import integration with O-Calc Pro. Our field crews capture pole geometry and attachment data in Katapult. That data imports directly into O-Calc Pro for loading analysis — reducing manual entry error and speeding up the analysis phase significantly. **Q: What areas do your field crews cover?** A: We are active in 22 states and can mobilize field crews across all 50 states. Contact us with your project location and we'll confirm coverage and timeline. --- ## Related Pages - [services/pole-loading-analysis.md](pole-loading-analysis.md) — Loading analysis using field survey data - [services/ftth-design.md](ftth-design.md) — FTTH design built on field-accurate data - [services/as-built-documentation.md](as-built-documentation.md) — Post-construction field verification - [blog/field-survey-data-accuracy-fiber-construction.md](../blog/field-survey-data-accuracy-fiber-construction.md) — Why bad survey data causes 90% of change orders - [blog/strand-mapping-aerial-plant-assessment-process.md](../blog/strand-mapping-aerial-plant-assessment-process.md) — Complete strand mapping process guide --- ## Contact **Draftech International, LLC** 15280 NW 79th CT, Suite 102 Miami Lakes, FL 33016 - **Phone:** 305-306-7406 - **Email:** info@draftech.com - **Website:** https://draftech.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/draftechint