Environmental

We have significant experience assisting government agencies with developing criteria for the reporting of ground water monitoring well surveys and developing procedures for the submission of electronic wetland application drawing files.

We are involved in everything from investigation and remediation of Superfund and Brownfield Sites to the creation of new freshwater, coastal and tidal wetlands. More than most any other surveying firm, Borbas understands the language and needs of the environmental scientist, engineer, compliance officer and licensed site remediation professional.

This expertise has been especially beneficial to our waterfront clients, who were forced to contend with repercussions from Hurricane Sandy. These repercussions included challenges such as large petroleum tanks floating from their pedestals and pumps, as well as electrical transformers being heavily damaged or destroyed. In addition, as a result of the storm, FEMA changed base flood elevations and we have been instrumental in helping clients understand and meet revised FEMA guidelines so they can rebuild their infrastructures to be in full compliance as well as to protect their investments.

Of course, this is not the full extent of what we can offer when it comes to environmental mapping. We are also adept at creating drainage and land use (DLU), topographical maps and General Site Plans (GSP) that can be used for a Discharge, Prevention, Containment and Countermeasure (DPCC) plan submission.

Part of our extensive knowledge in these areas comes from our active involvement with, and support of, the Licensed Site Remediation Professional Association and the Environmental Business Council of the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey.

Whether it’s a tank farm, coastal wetland, right of way, military installation, airport or community, a large area base map may be right for your studies and plans. We can provide many options depending on your specific needs. In fact, we can provide aerial base mapping in digital vector, point cloud and traditional hardcopy formats.

New aerial digital cameras allow us to capture color imagery with pixel sizes as small as 1.7 centimeters. The center of each pixel can be converted to a point, and the points make up a 3D point cloud. These clouds are similar to LiDAR, but with the benefit of true color imagery. The digital files support traditional vector and contour drawing development. And unlike film or ground surveying, precise surface mapping can be generated from this very dense spacing.

Through testing, we’ve discovered that we can reach vertical precision between pixels down to the centimeter level. Our digital imagery supports creation of color orthophotography, which we produce ourselves.

We have always been held to a higher standard in regard to health and safety, and our drone services are no different. Our 4 pilots are fully insured and follow our robust aerial program.

The rise and fall of tides provide special situations that oil terminals, shipping docks, piers, and wharfs need to address, since much commerce is conducted along these tidal rivers, bays and harbors.

Not only do we understand the complexities and implications of tides, but we even teach other surveyors, engineers and GIS professionals how tides relate to an upland project site, how to work with complex FEMA data, and how to determine tidal elevations in NAVD88 or other project datums.

Our clients may have needs for use of the area of land flowed by the tide, and we work with clients and state agencies to determine and/or obtain usage rights for bulkhead restoration, pier and wharf construction, or bridge crossings.

We have the ability to create seamless computer models and mapping of lands under water, the bulkhead and uplands from the many types of sensors we employ.

For more than twenty years, we have been using, learning and testing state-of-the art technology, including GPS and high-accuracy coordinate pinpointing via the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS). As a result of these endeavors, we can effectively provide centimeter-level positioning in real-time or post process our observation data to obtain even millimeter-level positioning.

Borbas was a founding partner in a group that worked with Leica Geo Systems and the New Jersey Institute of Technology to develop and implement a high density real-time GPS/GNSS network across the State of New Jersey. Whether we are working for our clients in New Mexico, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey or Delaware, we can tie into a real-time geodetic network system with any of our equipment.

Ships, barges, buildings, tanks and walls…Borbas has worked on them all to provide the precise measurements and mapping engineers need for a variety of reasons:

• Oil company clients may need us to monitor tanks for suspected or potential movement
• Machinery may need to be dismantled and reassembled in another state or country
• A damaged barge may need to be reconstructed and put back in service
• Excavation work may need to be performed next to buildings or railroads and require the monitoring of movement, or change detection
• Existing monuments may require surveying to assess shifts over time, movement, distortion, or damage in the event of a natural disaster

Whatever the demand, we can perform structural surveys with the same level of expertise our clients have come to expect from our other survey offerings.

Prior to performing studies, design and analysis, we are often asked to prepare existing condition surveys to support our clients’ work or that of others. As-built surveys verify compliance with approved design plans and provide a legacy record for both internal and external use, such as pipeline companies.

At the outset, we determine the needs of all parties and set the criteria for the existing conditions survey. Many of these surveys are used for soil and volume calculations, drainage design, bridge and highway design and site planning.

The American Land Title Association and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping jointly established standards and specifications for the preparation of boundary and title surveys.

Using a nationally-accepted standard benefits our clients, since it provides assurance that their survey is the best it can be and accurately depicts metes and bounds and second or third-party interests in land for properties in question. The ALTA/ACSM standard has optional items that can be added to the survey.

You can view the entire standard and optional Table A Items by downloading the form here.

Our surveying offerings extend to those lands flowed by both fresh and salt water. Our hydrographic skiff is equipped with a real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS/GNSS antenna mounted directly above the sonar sensor so we can provide real-time elevations in NAVD88 or your particular project datum. As a result, we can effectively offer underwater topographic surveys of watersheds including rivers, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, bays and harbors.

The hydrographic and bathymetric surveys we conduct support flood study analysis, scour analysis of bridge piers, dredging analysis, erosion analysis and dam studies. Files are provided in digital models and drawings as well as in hardcopy formats.