In this merged sessions you will hear the following presentations:
Surveying the United States/Canada International Boundary
Michael Bartlett, PhD, P.Eng., M.ASCE
An initiative is underway to commemorate "Surveying the United States/Canada International Boundary" as a joint ASCE/CSCE International Civil Engineering Historical Landmark.
Overall, this was a project of tremendous scale facing many challenges of politics, logistics, technology and climate with many portions in remote and rugged wilderness areas. Taken together the boundary between the contiguous 48 U.S. States and Canada and that between Alaska and the Canadian Yukon Territory and British Columbia represents the longest boundary between two countries in the world at 5525 miles. It required a period of 131 years to complete the marking of this boundary, making it perhaps the longest single purpose survey ever in terms of physical length and time.
The presentation will focus on the technical advances adopted to survey the International Boundary, including (1) the U.S. Commission’s use of the zenith telescope and the Talcott method for determining latitude by observing the declination of pairs of stars near the meridian when surveying in the Rocky Mountains; (2) the use of phototopography”, an early form of “photogrammetry", to create maps of the Alaska/Yukon boundary that was efficient and much more robust given typical weather conditions than conventional plane table methods; and, of lesser significance, (3) the application of Massey’s Patent Log to survey Lake Superior allowed distances to be measured while travelling by canoe at four miles per hour.
The presentation will also illustrate how some of the logistical challenges were successfully resolved.
David Thompson's Surveying and Mapping- NW N.A.
David R. Gilbert, N/A, E.M., P.E.
Michael Bartlett, PhD, P.Eng., M.ASCE
This presentation is a brief introduction to the relatively unknown life and work of David Thompson (1770-1857), a Welsh-born surveyor, who spent all of his adult life in Canada in the fur trade, exploring, surveying and mapping 1.7 million square miles of what is now central and western Canada and the northern tier of western U.S. States, earning him the honor of being called “The greatest land geographer to have lived”. Described, will be his life, from to early childhood in London, lifelong marriage to his Cree wife, Charlotte, his final years in Montreal and his life in the North American interior.
He made several major accomplishments during his life. Foremost was his very large 10’-4” x 6’-9” map compiled from his own surveys and those of others of his era depicting Northwest Company trading posts, water and land routes between them and natural features such as rivers and mountains from the western shores of Hudson’s Bay to the Pacific Ocean. His extensive exploration and mapping of the very rugged and unknown territory which included the upper Columbia River drainage opened a new route used for many years afterwards to move furs from the interior of North American to the Pacific Ocean and on to Asia. His final major work begun in 1846 was his 702-page handwritten manuscript of his travels including much information on the geological, botanical, zoological, anthropological and meteorological features of the regions he had visited which became a great resource for those researching these fields.
