Innovative Firm Presents Unique Service at Circle Breakfast
Vertical Access staff bring a top-down approach to their work. Seen climbing down the sides of many of the country’s most noted buildings, the innovative firm combines rope access technologies with survey instruments to provide highly accurate data for building design and restoration.
Kelly Streeter and Kent Diebolt from Vertical Access presented their unique service to Professional Circle members at a breakfast on October 28, talking about Tablet PC Annotation System (TPASTM), a program the company uses to document building conditions. TPAS combines the utility of AutoCAD with customized programming to streamline quantity measurements and photographic and video documentation in the field using tablet computers.
“We get to places our clients can’t or don’t want to get to,” Streeter said.
The 15-year old company has a staff of historic building preservationists, professional structural engineers and technicians, all of who are certified by the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT). The company began by taking notes on pen and paper to investigate and document existing building conditions. With the need for faster, integrated technology, they developed TPAS allowing both graphical and numeric data to be entered directly into an AutoCAD drawing in the field using tablet computers. Digital cameras and camcorders are used to capture images and videos that are automatically hyperlinked to condition codes in the annotated drawing.
“It’s harder to stand on your legs with the equipment than on a rope,” Streeter said, referring to the way a Vertical Access technician must juggle various equipment while hanging from a building. Equipment such as a tablet computer, two 7/16” static ropes, descent and fall control devices, helmet and harness are used on a normal rappel.
Streeter and Diebolt detailed a number of projects during the breakfast. The team has rappelled off the Philadelphia Cathedral’s copper dome, determining that the dome’s rate of deterioration could be repaired rather than replaced.
Vertical Access adapted to the Tent of Tomorrow’s challenging design by taking more than the usual amount of video footage to determine future structural options for the unique structure.
They completed three separate investigations of the Brooklyn General Post Office and Courthouse façade, documenting and quantifying conditions and, eventually, planning window repairs.
Streeter and Diebolt noted that each project drives the evolution of their technical equipment. They are looking to enhance TPAS with wireless camera capability and increased resolution. Also, they look to upgrade software, which will improve the team’s auto field reporting capability and streamline video reporting.
