Civil CAD

Last week I announced I would be doing some in the field videos for construction surveyors. I have posted 3 already, and plan to do plenty more. While I´m at it, I don´t see that it would take me too much extra time to do some Civil 3D tutorials as well. I will separate them into a different series. So, hopefully, starting today, you will see the beginning of the Civil 3D screen shots. Mind you, these videos are geared towards the private sector of the highway construction industry. So it is not so much design as it is simply putting the plans into digital format for survey layout in the most simplified way possible.

Here were some of the happenings at Grafsurv in 2010…

1. Launch - 4 January 2010 - In many ways, the website launch on 4 January 2010 was the culmination of a long process. I started doing highway construction work in 1984, highway construction surveying in 1993 and began to do calculations remotely by internet in 2006 as an employee. Only after gaining the experience needed was I able to resign from my position in November of 2009 and launch Grafsurv at the beginning of 2010.
2. Paypal - 4 January 2010 - This is a great way to transfer funds. Grafsurv pays a small percentage of the price, while the clients enjoy the ease of online payment. Paypal has a nifty little feature in which you receive an invoice for services rendered. All of this is done electronically with no fuss, mail, calls, wires or any other complications. You don’t even need a Paypal account…just a credit card.
3. YouTube - 15 February 2010- Although the launch video at the YouTube Grafsurv channel says 8 April 2010, it was originally launched two months earlier. After changing the company name from Construction Survey Support to the much easier and shorter Grafsurv, a new YouTube account was created to reflect the name. The original two videos from CSS were reloaded on 8 April. 
4. Facebook - 11 June 2010 - The Grafsurv Facebook page was created about seven months ago. It is a great way to share my message and to post links for the blog and other happenings. Facebook is a phenomenon that maybe has not hit the construction industry as much as other industries. But there is a lot of potential there. It is a great way to communicate and share. Email will eventually fade away, and social networking will take over for our online communication needs.
5. Tumblr - 11 June 2010 - Blogging is just another way to let you know about my services. Here you will see the current happenings as well as what is in store for Grafsurv.
6. Amazon - 30 September 2010 - In my spare time, I was able to write a book called Highway Construction Surveyor. It deals with the field aspects of highway construction surveying. Hopefully it will be the first in a serices. I would like to write something similar on the subject of highway construction surveyor work in the office and maybe more. Let’s see if 2011 gives me the time to squeeze another book in. Find Highway Construction Surveyor at Amazon.com.
7. Pogoplug - 20 December 2010 - I decided to start using my own server via Pogoplug to share plans rather than rely on a third party server. Click here to check it out. There’s no need to create an account. I’ve taken care of that for you. Just a few clicks, and seconds later, your plans are on my server. Third party servers bog down when there are too many users. I will never run into that problem, since I never carry more than five clients. Add me, and that makes six. That’s a lot better than thousands!
8. New Website - 20 December 2010 - Amazingly, I created my current website design for Grafsurv in only two days. Up until that point, the Grafsurv websites had been rudimentary, while practical and very functional. Only now after six years of website design have I put all the pieces together with Adobe Dreamweaver to create something to be truly proud of. Since I do all of this work on my own, there are no fees for website designers. You enjoy the cost savings.
9. Civil 3D 2010 - pre-2010 and ongoing - I started with AutoCAD Land Desktop in 2003. Previously I had used plain old AutoCAD, and before that it was Terramodel. Grafsurv now uses Civil 3D 2010. I have the 2011 version, but haven’t fired it up yet.

That’s it for 2010. It’s been a very interesting and exciting year for Grafsurv. And I’ve been loving it! Stay tuned to see what happens in 2011!