Geotechnical News • December 2015
33
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
the earth and structures and applying
mathematical and regulatory principals
to determine positions and elevations
of points on structures or the ground
surface where the change in posi-
tion of such points are a concern for
safeguarding of life, health, property,
economic interests, the public welfare
or the environment.
Clearly both the PE and PLS standard
of conduct requires that the Profes-
sional only undertake assignments
when qualified by education or experi-
ence in the specific technical fields.
The difficulty in the RTS implementa-
tion is that neither a PLS nor PE is for-
mally trained on all these issues. On
projects without formal specification,
the Professional typically decides if he
or she has the qualifications required
to perform the work.
Until such time that the relatively new
field of RTS monitoring advances to
influence the state or provincial reg-
istration boards, this “mix” of Profes-
sionals involved in RTS construction
monitoring will likely continue.
It is these writers’ opinion that both
a PE and PLS can be qualified to
undertake a RTS program, and that
other degrees and experience may also
qualify. The argument of who should
be qualified as the GIE, will not be
debated here.
Recommendations for contract
specification language
The frustration with RTS program
specifications has been prevalent in
the North American industry for more
than a decade, and discussed well in
the September 2009 GIN article by
Dail and Volterra.
It is these authors’ recommendation,
as representatives for both PEs and
PLSs that the need for a separate
AMTS (RTS) specialist is well suited
and generally the best for the project,
especially in the cases where there is a
large amount of “in ground” instru-
mentation being addressed by the GIE.
We would anticipate that such a
specification would generally outline
as follows:
Robotic Total Station (RTS) Specialist
who shall have previous experience
in installation, monitoring, and data
interpretation of at least two RTS sys-
tems in applications similar to those
specified herein. The RTS Specialist
shall perform the following tasks:
• Design and detail the overall
configuration and appurtenant
hardware and installation proce-
dures for the entire RTS system,
including final locations of the
components.
• Perform pre-installation and post-
installation acceptance tests and
supervise installation of the system
in its entirety.
• Collect, reduce, process and plot
RTS data.
• Review RTS system data for qual-
ity assurance, identification of
erroneous data and identification
of movement trends.
• Incorporate information from data
review, changed site conditions
and/or unanticipated changes to
system design into the RTS system
processing model.
• Be a PE or PLS in the state or prov-
ince where the project is located
We hope to see additional attention
paid to the details and qualifications
of this specialty as the use of RTS
monitoring continues to grow.
References
Emily B. Dail, and Joel L. Volterra,
“Instrumentation and Monitor-
ing Trends in New York City and
Beyond”, Geotechnical News,
September 2009.
-
nicalnews.com/pdf/GeoTech-
News/2009/GIN%202703.pdf
Douglas Roy, Jonathan Stuhl
GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.
104 West 29
th
Street, 10
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Floor
New York, NY 10001
212-594-8140
Giving credit where credit is due
Donald Shields
I am at the age when finding myself
in the kitchen I have to stop and ask
myself “Why did I come here? What
am I looking for?” Also at the age that
things ‘tick me off’ probably more
frequently than they used to.
I was ticked off three years ago when
I read Geotechnical Instrumentation
News [GIN] give credit to ex-US Sec-
retary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The mention of Rumsfeld’s name, usu-
ally in association with Dick Cheney,
ex-US Vice President, makes me grit
my teeth, I admit.
The introduction to June 2012 GIN
highlighted the concept of Known
knowns, Known unknowns, and
Unknown unknowns. These are risk
