Untitled Document

Sterbentz creates GIS App to aid ITD, public at large

Nik Sterbentz, the GIS Analyst in District 5, has created an app that allows project planners to use basic information from older projects and add current layers to it to come up with a general picture of the current area before ever heading out the door to do any on-site planning.

For citizens outside the ITD firewall, the app graphically shows where the projects in the ITIP are located, and shows crash information, snowfall data, and a host of other interesting information that outside users may want.

Other government organizations, surveyors and contractors can also view information here as a representation and reference of features in District 5. Although the application has been available within ITD since 2012, during which time Sterbentz continually added to and improved the app, it has only been available to the public since February.

In all conversations, Sterbentz emphasizes that much of the data in the application are works-in-progress.

For example, a certain set of plans may not yet be among those available in the application, and many are not. In this case, the same methods for finding the plan through ITD are still available (such as contacting the district plans coordinator), but if the plans are available here, it can save a lot of time. Eventually the plan is to complete these datasets, and maintain them at as high a level of completeness as possible.

The D5 GIS App can be accessed by anyone inside or out of ITD’s firewall. Other agencies, contractors, and the general public can now view the data in it, using this link:

http://apps.itd.idaho.gov/apps/gis/d5/d5flexapp/

In addition, IPLAN (ArcGIS Online) is now available from ITD’s public webpage, http://itd.idaho.gov, on the right-hand side of the page.

The app contains many other features, like integrated Google Street View, the ITD Plansets basemap, and a multitude of available data layers.

For instance, Sterbentz presented it to the Idaho Society of Public Land Surveyors in mid-April to demonstrate how to access roadway plansets in various forms, as well as find milepost and township/section/range reference layers.

“As a designer or reviewer for ITD, Nik’s app is really useful. For example, I can invoke a Bing image, show geo-referenced plansheets of older projects over it, then turn on layers like culverts, signs or approaches. In other words, I can find most of the stuff I need to know for a simple pavement rehabilitation project without leaving my desk,” explained District Engineer Ed Bala.

Users of the application can activate data layers in the application by clicking the corresponding checkbox in the “Enhanced Layer List.” Some layers were created in District 5, while others are statewide datasets created and/or maintained by the GIS group within ITD Headquarters.

There are also several available layers created by outside entities, like the survey-location database from Idaho State University/University of Idaho or the “72-Hour Snowfall” service from the National Weather Service.

“I encourage readers to go check out the D5 Flex App, aka 'NikWeb,”" Bala said.