Again, another exciting week as a Delaware City Public Utilities Intern. This week began with Janelle assigning me to work on a new cul de sac that is currently under development. This assignment was similar to the previous ones I have had and included the usual adding in the water, sewer, and storm infrastructure as well as editing anything that was already drawn in but not correct. Although the general task was the same as previous weeks, this assignment was quite a bit more difficult. This map, which we received from the engineers was sent in a different format then normal and thus made it impossible for Janelle and I to query out some of the unwanted or unneeded drawings and material. This left us with a very crowded and hard to read map. So in order to draw in the structures which we needed we had to be very detail oriented and pay very close attention to ensure we were following the correct lines. Clearly this task was a little more advanced then what I have been doing, however once I got started I got comfortable with it and I am glad Janelle trusted me to give it a shot. Due to the complexity though I only managed to draw in about 75% of the water features, with storm and sewer having to wait.

Unfortunately on Friday I could not report to my internship due to illness. My first sick day I have ever taken! So I am hoping to feel better and be able to continue my assignment on Monday!

I also spent a good amount of time this week working on my final paper reviewing my internship. Its fun and interesting going back and reading my old post to compile them into one concise paper. Looking back I see all the great lessons and skills I have learned!

first off I want to apologize that I missed the Friday deadline for my blog post, completely slipped my mind! However, here it goes. This week was different then others, but still good. Monday Janelle was still in Florida and I had an interview with August Mack so I did not come in. However, I used all the things Janelle helped me with in my interview so hopefully it pays off 🙂 Friday we spent the day examining the new stormx debris collector that will put in the Delaware run (I’m not sure what it’s officially called). It was really cool though! I learned a lot about it and how it will be used to study stream quality and litter amounts. Monday Janelle plans on starting a new project with me and I’m very excited!

I know this post is short on words, but it was kind of a short week! And again sorry it’s late!

Monday I again spent the day working on a GIS map of a Delaware suburb. In this map I was tasked with adding and editing all of the utilities, much like last week. I first put in all of the sewer lines and other associated structures. I then wanted to move on to the storm infrastructure, but unfortunately Arc didn’t want to cooperate. For some reason when creating a new feature it would not snap to the location we needed it too. I took some time and played around with Arc trying to diagnose the problem, however I had no luck. Being unsuccessful, I called over Janelle to see if she could help me come to a conclusion and resolve the problem. She too searched around and tried a few different things but none worked. This was extra strange because this same problem happened last week and it only occurred when we tried to use create or edit the storm lines or infrastructure.  So I’m intrigued to see if Janelle finds a resolution to this problem and discover what the issue was. After this detour, I went ahead and started to add in the new and edit the existing water infrastructure. This was very time consuming, as the water has the most of all the other utilities. However, I managed to get almost completely finished by the end of my day. With about thirty minutes remaining, Janelle needed to use her computer so she had me continue the job search. During this time I found some great opportunities and applied for a handful of jobs!

Thursday, I got to attend the Delaware City Town and Gown event which was really interesting. Although it wasn’t a very long experience it was still cool getting to be inside the meeting and see where these things take place. Also, being in the photoshoot was pretty fun, lol!

This week Janelle taught me how to import CAD files into Arc and how to use these drawings to update the maps. These CAD drawings are great to work with, they are fairly straight forward and very accurate. I began this project by comparing the CAD drawings to the drawings we made from the geo-referencing last week. The drawings from the geo-reference were close but not exactly in the correct locations as indicated by the CAD drawings. In order to correct this I simply had to move my previously drawn figures into the corresponding locations based off the CAD drawings, which was pretty straightforward. Once this was finished, I used the CAD drawing to input the rest of the utilities onto our Arc map. Monday I put in all of the water infrastructure, including water mains, laterals, junctions, laterals, fire hydrants, and water meters. There was a lot of water structures within this new sub division and inputting them took the entire afternoon. Friday, since I was finished with the water infrastructure, I got to move on to the the easier storm and sewer utilities. Like, the water I began by correcting the previously drawn in structures from the geo-reference map and put them into their correct positions based on the CAD map. I then moved into inputting the new structures. For storm I input mains, inlets, outlets, manholes, and inlets with manholes. As for sewer I only needed to put in the manholes and the gravity lines, insuring they were headed in the correct direction. Janelle also taught me how to input different layers as well as create a query. The query was very interesting and I can see how useful / helpful it can be. Creating one is relatively straight forward but I would like to do some more in order to ensure I know how to use them. Another thing I would like more practice with is inputting layers into Arc. But overall, another great week with a lot of new information learned!

Another great week at the internship following spring break. On Monday janelle taught me how to use blueprints and georeferencing to create a new utilities map. After giving me the run down in how it works she let me work on Arc from her desktop, since it has more capabilities and is easier to use then my laptop, and set me free to create this utility map of a new subdivision. I spent the rest of the afternoon adding in the water, sewer, and storm infrastructure. This included adding structures such as inlets, manholes, fire hydrants, valves, laterals, junctions, and a few others. After the map was completed it was very rewarding seeing the finished product! It was a great experience and an even better learning opportunity!

On Friday janelle had me continue the same type of work but on to a bigger and more complicated scale and with a new development.   This time janelle taught me how in import csx and cad files into arc online as well as how to munipulate these layers and how to use a query when looking for something specefic. For this project I was drawing in the utility infrastructure using the engineering cad files. This was a bit more complex then simplying drawing in the lines from the blue prints like we did Monday.  At first I was a little overwhelmed but as I got into I really enjoyed the task! Janelle even had the confidence to leave me alone while I continued this work and when she came back all was good, which was a relief. A big part of this was modifying the lines that were previously drawn in and this proved to be more time consuming then expected and I only got the water infastruce completed. So we plan to continue the process on Monday and finish up the sewer and storm infastructure!

This was an interesting week with a change in schedule. I did not report to the public utilities office at all this week, instead I spent my hours shadowing a Delaware county game warden. Janelle has been excellent indirecting me throughout my internship but also going above and beyond to help me search for jobs post graduation. She was the one who set up this shadowing experience with the game warden and I am very grateful. The game warden, Maurice Irish, walked me through a typical work day for him. Since it is a slow time of year with no hunting or fishing going on we spent most of the time driving around different parks and wildlife areas to ensure everything was running as it was supposed to be. Maurice also took the time to tell me about what he does during different times in the season, his favorite parts about being a game warden, as well as his least favorites. Maurice gave me lots of good tips and advice to think about when preparing to apply to be a game warden, including things to do in the meantime and what to expect if I get selected. Maurice also talked to me about other aspects to his job that most people do not think about, such as education and public outreach. As part of his job he gives a lot of presentation and even pulled up a few to give me an idea of what that entails. All in all I really think this is the type of career I could see myself doing!  Although we did not get to do a whole lot of hands on things today, I found it quite interesting and very helpful just to talk with Maurice and get his views and opinions on what being a game warden is really like. Towards the end he gave me his card and invited me to partake in another ride along whenever I get the chance and I look forward to taking him up on that offer.

This week at Public Utilities I was sick and was only able to come in on Tuesday. That day, I continued cataloguing the maps and plans in the shop room. After nearly two weeks in the room, I’ve only managed to get through around half the drawers. Seeing the plans and designs for the buildings I see around my every day is pretty eye-opening. Though it’s not directly city-planning themed, it’s given me more of a grasp on what a vastly complex task it is to plan cities and keep them running. Being able to see the evolution of Delaware has also been really interesting. At this point, I’ve found street maps of the city from roughly every decade dating back to the early 1900s, and while the downtown core hasn’t changed much, the city itself has grown immensely as Columbus continues to boom. I was even able to find maps without the street my house is on, and maps from when the Jaywalk was a normal street. For next week, I’ll be looking for possible jobs I’m interested and going over application processes with Janelle.

Another interesting week as a Delaware public utilities intern. Monday was very eventful. I started the day by updating the city’s map with the GPS points we collected on Friday from the new development (Coughlin’s Crossing), and the other three locations (One near the fairgrounds on tanglewood drive, one on water gate drive, and one found on 36 heading East out of Delaware). This included adding features such as water mains, valves, hydrants, inlets, and other various public utilities. Updating these maps served as great practice using GIS. I also found it very interesting seeing the capability differences between Arc online, which is what I was running on my laptop, and the desktop version, Arcpro which is in the city computer. After this was completed, Janelle had me continue the process of cataloging the record drawings. Like before, this consisted of using the list of record drawing to reference if they were already uploaded into the city files as well as up to date in the city works platform. It’s slow work, Espen and I have both worked on this project and are only about half way done, however its good practice using city works and it is rewarding getting all of the record drawings organized. Friday we used as a professional development day. After sending her a few job postings to give her an idea of what I am interested in post graduation, Janelle helped me tighten up my resume and cater it to specific jobs. This is found very helpful and I am extremely grateful she is taking the time to do these kinds of things for me. We then squared away the details of my shadowing experience that is taking place next Friday with the Delaware county game warden. Finally to conclude the day I was tasked with continuing the job search and looking for future opportunities.

Week two for of my Delaware Public Utilities internship has continued to build upon the previous weeks. This week Janelle assigned me to continue the process of cataloging  the old blue prints from past city projects. These blueprints include plans for developing cul-de-sacs and new business in Delaware county.  These blue print maps are currently just sitting in the conference room of the public utilities building and I have been tasked with determining if they have been inputed into the city’s database yet. Last week I accomplished cataloging all of the maps and this week started cross referencing the maps I cataloged with the ones that already exist in the system. This has been quite challenging. In order to do this I needed to reference my catalog list with the city’s files as well as finding the location of the area on google maps in order to check it in the city’s online system.This project so far has served as great exposure to this platform and I believe it will prove useful becoming familiar with it. Overall this project has taken some time but I anticipate it to take at least a few more days to complete. However, I feel confident in the work I am doing and believe it is great experience.

Friday has been my favorite day with the utilities department yet. Janelle and I went out into the field and used the GPS to mark utilities that were not yet on the map. We then went to a new site which is currently being developed and again used to the GPS to mark those utilities as well. We will then go back into the city maps and trace over our markers. I found using the GPS interesting and another great skill! Bonus, while Janelle and I were mapping we discovered a hydrant leak and reported it.

The couple of weeks of my internship have been great and I can’t wait to see what else is in store. Our first day Espen and I both got a tour of where we would be working and given an idea of what we would be doing. I particularly enjoyed getting the full tour of the waste water treatment plant, I was quite amazed with the place. We started our first assignment by getting to know GIS via the ESRI training assigned by Janelle. I found this training to be very informative and very useful. This being my first time truly using GIS I am glad to get to go through this type of training, plus I learned a lot of new material I  never even knew was possible with ArcGIS. This led in to my first actually assignment for the city. Janelle tasked me with updating the cities online map database with new features that were observed in the field. Some of these things included adding new storms water lines and new drainage and intakes that were not previously on the map. This assignment was very interesting and I found it nice to get to put our new skills learned from the training to work! The next task was filtering through old city blueprints from previous building projects and documenting it them so that I can catalog them in the coming weeks. So far I have really enjoyed my time intending with Delaware public utilities and have already learned a great deal and expect to learn a great deal more! Janelle has already done a great job showing me valuable skills such as using ArcGis and I know she plans to teach us more valuable skills like using GPS and other similar things. At the same time she has also done a great job exposing us to the ins and outs of her