That's a good system; if I weren't bound by company-wide standard codes I would do that. A breakline is a breakline, no matter what type of surface you are surveying, and it should be obvious what surface you are on for spot elevations. Unfortunately we have a lot of clients that require us to differentiate, so the company list is pretty extensive.
The one thing I can modify/add to the company feature code library is attributes. The company code list has something like 20-25 different codes for trees, which is just ridiculous. And they want the crew to write the size in the field notes, which means techs would have to hunt down the size and match it up with the point.
I just take the generic tree code and add dropdown lists for type, size.
Now the crews don't have to hunt for the tree codes, just enter in the generic "TRE" code and pick the type from the alphabetized dropdown list, and the size from another dropdown. Whoever processes and drafts the data has the type and size right there as attributes in Civil 3D, no need to go back and forth between the field book, and then we can generate point labels and tree tables automatically.
OUAT, when I was in college, I worked 2 summers on a forestry research crew. I learned to reliably identify the dozen or so native species of tree in this part of the world. But I've never been able to transfer any of that knowledge to any survey crew member, and, anyway, in any urban/suburban area there are a bazillion non-native varieties. Conifer/Deciduous is the most that can be reliably expected. Any attempt at more is just fodder for the Arborist' message board ("...that idiot surveyor had a pseudotsuga menziesii labelled "FIR"!. I can't believe these guys!")?ÿ
For sure, I would much rather not try to play arborist. Unfortunately a lot of our clients, especially municipal ones, require species. We can usually identify about half of the trees on any given site, and then we have to just call it "unknown deciduous/coniferous". I always tell the crews that if they have any doubt about a tree, just mark it as unknown.
we have to just call it "unknown deciduous/coniferous"
I use the term "unidentified."?ÿ I figure that *somebody* knows what it is, just not me.
I've taken a leaf, and a photo with me to stop by a landscaping store on the way back to the office.?ÿ They would give me the species and formal name as well as the common name.
Now there's an app for that ...
Reading this thread is very interesting. I think we can safely say that there is no one right way of performing this function. One needs to establish an SOP that works for them. If I think back to my first surveys doing F2F, I cringe. I was self taught, so I did a lot of stupid things starting out on my first few surveys.
I have eliminated top and toe codes from my list and substituted a single breakline (BL) code.
I mostly do the same thing (though I use GB for "grade break" instead of BL), except sometimes when cross-sectioning a ditch with a lot of breaklines.?ÿ In that case I might start with TOP1, then GB1, GB2, etc. and finish with TOP2.?ÿ It helps me keep the strings straight in my head.
Part of it is personal preference and part is local conditions. For instance, headwalls, box culverts, and concrete lined ditches are a big deal in Oklahoma. They hardly exist in Oregon.
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