GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING INTERVIEWS:

1) Do it the convenience of the person being interviewed.

2) State who you are and why you are conducting the interview.

3) Try to arrange for a visit to their site if possible.

4) Some of these firms are interested in interns/workers, even if you are not interested,

There Sam students may be, so let them know that we are working on an internship program.

5) Questions to ask of the person being interviewed:

What is your name, title, duties and educational background.

 

How long have you(your firm) been using GIS?

 

What GIS package do you use, on what platform, using which operating system, and

which peripherals.

 

Where do you get your data?

 

What do you/your firm apply GIS to.

 

Do you have any customized programs in use?

 

Do you use other technology in conjunction with GIS (CAD, GPS, Remote Sensing, etc)?

 

What problems have you had with GIS development?


What successes have you had with using your GIS to solve problems?

 

What do you expect to use your GIS for in the future?

 

If I wanted to start a career in GIS what should I study/do?

 

Do you have anything else to add?

 

FEEL FREE TO MAKE UP YOUR OWN QUESTIONS IN ADDITION TO THESE. REMEMBER YOU NEED TO PUT TOGETHER A 5-10 PAGE REPORT.

PERHAPS YOU CAN GET YOUR SUBJECT TO GIVE YOU SOME DATA/REPORTS

FROM THEIR GIS THAT YOU CAN ADD TO YOUR REPORT OR TO SUGGEST SOME ARTICLES ON THEIR APPLICATION AREA.

 

You may also discuss the applications area and its issues and the history of the firm or organization whose GIS person you are interviewing. You may choose to interview more than one person in an organization or people in several organizations. Interviews in person are better but they can be conducted over the phone or even by email.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THEMES:

Description of data (themes) for use in the group projects for geography 434. This data covers a four county area (Walker, Grimes, Montgomery and San Jacinto counties) with the exception of the aquifers whose full extent is presented.

 

Under the team directory (deer, armadillo, etc) there are a series of themes (or layers) of GIS data in arcview shapefile format. A brief description of each layer is as follows:

����

���� STDYBNDRY: the outer boundary of the study area

PROJSITE: The study site boundaries the internal boundaries of the four counties in the study area (Use as a framework for your study.)

STREAMS: The streams and rivers in the study area (a good set of data to have in any project)

STREAM500: a 500-meter buffer zone around each stream in the study area

���� BASINS: the drainage basin boundaries in the study area

���� LAKES: the lakes in the study area (another good set of data)

LAKES1000: A 1000-meter buffer zone around each lake in the study area

���� NFWET: Non forested wetlands

���� FWET: Forested wetlands

���� WET250: a 250-meter bufferzone around each wetland

���� SOILS: the 1:100,000 scale soils map for the area

NEWSOILS: soils data reclassified to reflect geotechnical properties.

DRASTIC: Aquifer vulnerability assessment of the area based on an EPA methodology

GEOTECH: geotechnical suitability of the area for siting landfills in particular can be used to site other facilities with a different interpretation (basically a polygon overlay of DRASTIC and NEWSOILS to identify areas with shallow groundwater and or permeable soils.

HIGHWAYS: the interstate and FM highways in the study area (another good framework set of data)

���� CITIES: the urban areas of 1,000 plus population have labels.

���� TOWNS the towns of 100 plus population no labels.

���� LANDUSE: The land-use for the study site.

���� VEG: The vegetation for the study site.

���� ECOREG: The ecological regions in the study area

There are several aquifers that cover the study area. The full extent of the aquifers is displayed when these layers are brought in:

These aquifers are the Gulfcoast (GULF), CARRIZO, queen city (QUEENCTY) and ��� SPARTA aquifers.

����

 

AREA#, CNTY#, URBAN #, BASE# (with various numbers afterwards): These are the detailed road network for each county and urban areas in the study area. This data is still being cleaned-up it is originally TIGER but TXDOT has put in a CAD package. You can look at it but it is in a different projection and coordinate system than the rest of your data so as of now you cannot use it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POWER PLANT SITING CRITERIA:

Meeting Monday 12-2) Locate: The Belchfire II coal fired power plant. Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option).

 

The power plant is a LULU (Locally Undesirable Land Use) as such it should not be located within 10 miles of a city and 5 miles of a town or 2 miles of existing residential or transition landuse.

The power plant requires cooling water so it must be within 3 miles of a reservoir or have a stream passing through the property that can be dammed to create cooling water ponds.

The site must have space for the cooling ponds, the plant itself and coal storage and loading areas.

 

Additional Power Plant Siting Criteria:

The site must be within 5 miles of a highway and 20 miles of a town. The site should avoid wetlands or buffer zones 250 meters out from wetlands.

The site should be roughly square or rectangular and cover 1,000-2500 acres. The plant itself will occupy 100 acres that must be fairly level.

The plant must be located within 2 miles of a lignite mine. Assume that all lignite mines are located in either Grimes county or north-east of Huntsville in Walker county.

A slurry line or conveyor belt must connect the mine and the power plant. This line must not cross a stream, lake, wetland, highway or be within 100 feet of residential or industrial landuse.

The site must be located within 2 miles of a major power line and 10 miles of a rail line. Assume that the rail lines parallel highway 19, 75 and 30 within 250 feet. Assume that the power corridors paralleled all of the highways within 1000 feet.

Determine three potential sites for the power plant, the cooling pond and the mine and slurry pipeline/conveyor belt. For each site determine the landuse soils vegetation

 

The detailed design needs to contain turbine, combustion, heat exchanger, fuel gas desulferization, electrostatic precipitator, and stack. Cooling water lines, cooling tower,

Control room, parking lot, perimeter fence, coal storage and loading areas.

Use the census bureau web site to determine population within 10 miles in 1990 also estimate income and other characteristics of the population of the enclosing census tract.

 

OUTPUT:

You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc. The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, the aquifers and their suitability, distances to major cities and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use. Also census data from the TIGER web site and aerial photography and topo maps if available from Terraserver. Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your facility you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LANDFILL SITING CRITERIA:

 

Project: Locate The Big Heap Regional Solid Waste landfill.

 

Pick at least three potential sites in different locations (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc: so always have another option).

 

Locate sites based on the following criteria:

For a landfill you will need at least 100 acres (400,190 square meters).

The site should be located out of the area covered either by poor or very poor soils and by the vulnerable (unsuitable) aquifers.

The site should be outside the 500 meter buffer zones around lakes, streams and wetlands.

Also, locate at least three 10 acre transfer stations near major urban areas, highways and in industrial, transition or agricultural land-use.

 

For each landfill site chosen, determine the distance to the center of each major city along the highways also the distance from the nearest edge of the landfill to the nearest river or stream, nearest lake or reservoir, nearest wetland, nearest soil that is poor or very poor, nearest unsuitable aquifer, nearest town, nearest city and nearest incompatible land use (i.e. residential or mixed residential).

 

Also, for each site determine which hydrologic basin, aquifer, soil ID, vegetation type, ecoregion, and land use it is in.

 

The detailed design of the site should contain Active cells, closed cells, areas for potential expansion, an equipment storage and maintenance area, a scale and entry gate, an enclosing fence, an enclosing berm, a retention pond capable of holding run-off prior to, discharge, a compost area, a large object (old appliances etc) disposal area, a metal recycling area, a glass recycling area, an operations office. Also four groundwater monitoring wells must be located. To do this groundwater flow direction must be determined because one well will be up-gradient and three wells will be down gradient. Therefore local topography must be determined using he digital elevation model information.

Use the census bureau web site to determine population within 10 miles in 1990 also estimate income and other characteristics of the population of the enclosing census tract.

 

OUTPUT: You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc. The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, distance to major cities, aquifers and their vulnerability, and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use. Also census data from the TIGER web site and aerial photography and topo maps if available from Terraserver. Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your facility where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HIGH SCHOOL SITING CRITERIA.

Locate Gothic High School. Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option). ����

 

A high school needs to be located in a city or within 2,000 feet of a city limit of a City with a population of at least 10,000 and in one which is experiencing rapid growth. Census data from 1980 and 1990 will be used to determine which places either currently have 10,000 residents or by 2010 at present rates of growth will have such a population.

The school shall occupy a site ranging in size from 75 to 150 acres.

The school must be on or within 5,000 feet of a state highway or the Interstate.

The School must not be located in existing Transportation, Industrial, or strip mine or commercial land uses. No more than 10% of the site can be located in residential or transition land use. The school should be farther than 250 feet from a wetland, farther than 500 feet from a stream or river and farther than 1,000 feet from a Lake or Reservoir.

The racial and economic composition of the Census tract in which the school is located should be determined as well as the population within 10 miles. The school will contain a main building of between 75,000 and 150,000 square foot footprint, a baseball field, a football field with stands and locker rooms, tennis courts, a swimming pool. Maintenance and support facilities such as a bus barn, parking lots easy pick-up and drop-off of students and an outer-perimeter fence. As this is a modern high school it should also have metal detectors at the non-emergency entrances and shrubs or green-belts where snipers can lie in ambush should be minimized.

 

OUTPUT: You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.

The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, distances to major cities, and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use.

Also print out relevant TIGER data from the census bureaus web site. And aerial photography and topo maps from Terraserver is available.

 

Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your mall where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

AIRPORT SITING CRITERIA:

Project: Locate the Jim Wright Memorial Regional Airport. Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option).

 

The airport will have a primary 3,000-foot runway with a parallel taxiway, a terminal building, a parking area and a plane maintenance and parking area. The total site will occupy between 1,000 and 1,500 acres. The site may be rectangular or L shaped but must have a square parking area of 100 acres and the runway and buffer zones around the runway and taxiway must be 300 feet wide.

The airport must serve the population centers within the four county area and have a suitably sized level location with adequate drainage.

This implies that the airport should be centrally located to serve the center of mass of population in the area.

 

Siting Criteria:

Conroe and the Woodlands and Huntsville will form an axis along which the airport should be placed with Navasota having some effect. The site should be located not farther than 2 miles from a highway and not more than 30 miles from either Conroe or Huntsville.

The site must not have more than 20 meters of elevation change along the length of the 3000 foot runway.The airport should not be located adjacent to wetlands, streams or reservoirs or within the 250 meter, 500 meter or 1000 meter buffer zones around these respective features. The alignment of the runway and taxiway should be north south to adjust to the prevailing wind. If the site is located in evergreen forest, the runway buffer zone must be increased to 500 feet to allow for the trees.

At least three alternative sites should be identified and the landuse, soils, aquifers and vegetation should be identified for each site.

The landing path must not pass low over a residential or transition landuse so 1 mile back from either end of the runway this landuse must be avoided. Also residential, or transition landuse should not approach closer than 1000 feet from the edge of the boundary of the airport. The detailed design should include, runway(s), taxiways, tarmac, boarding gates, baggage handling area, fuel storage, fire department, control tower, airport parking area, public transportation facilities for busses and taxis, hangars for private aircraft and a helipad. Use the census bureau web site to determine population within 10 miles in 1990 also estimate income and other characteristics of the population of the enclosing census tract.

OUTPUT: You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.

The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, distances to major cities, and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use.

Also census data from the TIGER web site and aerial photography and topo maps if available from Terraserver.


Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your facility where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marcus Wellbe Regional Hospital Siting Criteria:

 

The hospital needs to be located in a city or within 4,000 feet of a city limit of a City with a population of at least 8,000. Census data from 1990 will be used to determine which places either currently have 8,000 or more residents.

The hospital shall occupy a site ranging in size from 50 to 75 acres.

The hospital must be on or within 500 feet of a state highway or the Interstate.

The hospital must not be located in existing Industrial, or strip mine land uses.

The hospital should be farther than 250 feet from a wetland, farther than 500 feet from a stream or river and farther than 1,000 feet from a Lake or Reservoir.

Topographic maps and digital elevation models should be consulted to avoid too much relief (over 40 feet) on the site.

If located in evergreen forest an adequate area around the site should be cleared to allow helicopter access.

The racial and economic composition of the Census tract in which the hospital is located should be determined as well as an estimate of the population within 10 miles. The hospital will contain a main building of between 75,000 and 150,000 square foot footprint, a parking area, emergency vehicle access, helicopter pad, back-up power generation facility, separate water treatment, air conditioning/filtration and waste management plants, Also a EMS station and an outer-perimeter fence.

 

OUTPUT: You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.

The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, distances to major cities, and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use.

Also print out relevant TIGER data from the census bureaus web site. And aerial photography and topo maps from Terraserver is available.

 

Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your mall where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRISON SITING CRITERIA:

Project: Locate the O. L. Sparky Unit maximum-security correctional facility. Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option).

 

The prison will require a prison farm, housing for guards, adequate access, and must not be sited too close to a residential area.

Specifically, the prison will require a roughly rectangular or square footprint of at least 2,500 acres and at most 7,500 acres. The land must be suitable for agriculture. The prison must be within 5 miles of a highway and within 10 miles of an existing town and 25 miles of a city.

 

Siting Criteria:

The prison must not have a wetland, a stream, or a reservoir on the property or be within the 250-meter buffer zone around a wetland, the 500-meter buffer zone around streams or the 1,000-meter buffer-zone around a reservoir. There must be a relatively flat area of at least 500 acres to site the prison buildings. The site should not be located in evergreen forest, as much timber will need to be cleared to give the guards unimpeded vision of the compound.

The prison layout should include multiple fences, gates, guard towers (pickets), cellblocks, recreation areas, dining facilities, confined animal feeding operations, and waste-water treatment system. Also an infirmary, laundry, visiting area, chapel and central control building need to be incorporated. Some sort of manufacturing activity such a license plates, furniture, bus refurbishment or textile/clothing manufacturing should be included.

Land uses such as industrial, residential, transportation; transition and other non-agricultural developed uses are unacceptable. The outer boundary of the prison must be no closer than 1,000 yards to any of these land uses. The prison should not be sited on a vulnerable (unsuitable) aquifer or sited on a very poor soil suitability area.

Use the census bureau web site to determine population within 10 miles in 1990 also estimate income and other characteristics of the population of the enclosing census tract.

Once four potential sites have been identified, the merits and other factors (such as ecoregions, soils, landuse, vegetation, aquifers, aquifer vulnerability) of each site should be determined. For each site the straight line distance to the nearest town and city and distances along the highways to all of the other cities in the study area should be determined.

 

OUTPUT:You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.

The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, distance to cities, and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use. Also census data from the TIGER web site and aerial photography and topo maps if available from Terraserver. Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your facility where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Semi-Smart Industries Semi-conductor Factory Siting Criteria.

 

Project: Locate the Semi-Smart Industries Semi-conductor Manufacturing Plant.

Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option).

 

This factory will manufacture the newest generation of very large-scale integrated circuits for use in the electronic devices such as cell phones, PDA�s personal computers and control systems.

The factory should be located near or adjacent to an interstate highway or state highway (750 feet). Near rail corridors (Within 1,000 feet) and near (within 2,000 feet) areas with industrial or commercial landuse. The factory should be located within 5 miles of the city limit of a City with a population of at least 5,000. Census data from 1990 will be used to determiner which places meet this criteria.

The factory needs abundant well water so it must be located on top of one of the aquifers (identify which one). The factory will discharge treated effluent so it must have a pipeline to a perennial stream. This pipeline should not cross the Interstate highway nor be longer than 2 miles in length.

The factory shall occupy a site ranging in size from 250 to 500 acres.

The factory should be farther than 250 feet from a wetland, farther than 500 feet from a stream or river and farther than 1,000 feet from a Lake or Reservoir.

The economic composition of the Census tract in which the factory is located should be determined as well as the population within 10 miles.

The factory will consist of a main building of between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet footprint, a parking lot adequate to hold 1,000 cars, A water treatment plant, A waste water treatment plant, a switch yard a perimeter fence and guard house and a storm water detention pond. The factory interior will have office space, changing rooms for workers, a manufacturing floor, a clean-room area, a QA/QC area and a shipping department with loading docks. Check web sites and other sources for characteristics of similar factories (there is one in Austin and one In Albuquerque).

 

OUTPUT: You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.

The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the aquifers, distances to major cities, and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use.

Also print out relevant TIGER data from the census bureau�s web site. And aerial photography and topo maps from Terraserver is available.

Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your mall where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MALL SITTING CRITERIA.

Locate: The Best-Little-Mall -In-Texas. Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option).

 

 

Themall is a small to mid-sized shopping centerthat will provide shopping, entertainment and parking for up to 25,000 customers per day. The basic requirements are one or more anchor stores (a department store, various specialty retailers, restaurants and a multi-screen movie theater. Other components can be added by the team.

 

The Mall must be located within 2,500 feet of a highway preferably I 45. Actual frontage on the highway or Interstate is best.

 

The mall must have adequate parking lot space that shall accommodate 5,000 cars at one time.

 

The mall must have its own access from and to the highway or Interstate.

 

The mall shall have a primary enclosed building of at least 100,000 square feet.

 

Various businesses shall be located in the pad. These include fast food and sit-down restaurants and consumer electronics and pet stores as well as any other stand-alone stores the team picks.

 

The total size of the mall development shall be between 500 and 1,000 acres.

 

The landuse shall be agricultural, forest or transitional.

 

The mall shall be outside the buffer-zones around water features.

 

The mall shall be within 20 miles of a city.

 

Use the census bureau web site to determine population within 10 miles in 1990 also estimate population characteristics for the enclosing census tract.

 

OUTPUT:

You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.

The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, the aquifers and their suitability, and buffer zones around hydrography, distances to major cities, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use. Also print out relevant TIGER data from the census bureaus web site. And aerial photography and topo maps from Terraserver is available.

Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your mall where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY SITING CRITERIA:

Project: Locate Sunset City, a planned retirement community/country club. Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option).

 

The retirement community must balance peace and quite with access and support services and size and location against land acquisition costs and incompatible landuses.

Location near recreational facilities and highways is crucial. It cover between 5,000 and 15,000 acres. It will have four components: 1) forested homesites, this will cover 2500 acres. 2) a 500 acre 18 hole golf course with green side homes. 3) a 250 acre services area that has a shop, a country club, a pool, an extended care home, an acute care hospital, a hospice and a cemetery. 4) Town homes covering 250 acres far from the golf course & near the service center.

Additional Retirement Community Siting Criteria:

There should be a stream and man-made lake on the property and if possible this and the golf course should provide the central axis of the site.

The site must be within 3 miles of a highway and located not more than 15 miles from a city that can provide additional services.

The site can be located in any vegetation, soil or aquifer area.

The site should not be located within 2 miles of industrial landuse.

The site should not be located within 1 mile of transportation landuse.

The site must be within 20 miles of a lake type landuse.

Four alternatives should be identified and for each the landuse, vegetation soils should be determined. Use the census bureau web site to determine population within 10 miles in 1990 also estimate income and other characteristics of the population of the enclosing census tract.

For each site the straight line distance to the nearest town and city and distances along the highways to all of the other cities in the study area should be determined.

The detailed design should include an enclosing wall/fence, golf course with holes and fairways, the lakes, the country club with swimming pool, entry gate, adequate parking,

A store and gas station, an assisted living home, an extended care home and a cemetery (our motto is �you need never leave Sunset City��)

OUTPUT:

You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.


The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, distances to major cities, and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use. Also census data from the TIGER web site and aerial photography and topo maps if available from Terraserver.

 

Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your facility where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONTRAPTION SITTING CRITERIA.

Locate sites for the Super Colossal, Super Colliding, Super Contraption. Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option). The SCSCSC is a high energy research site with an underground atom smasher with a ring 10 kilometers in diameter with a connector tunnel power plants, and support facilities it is designed to accelerate particles of matter to speeds approaching the speed of light when the particles collide they break-up into their sub-atomic parts. This project will test the limits of mans knowledge of the beginning of the universe since it will cost billions of dollars to build and operate it will also create the conditions that will test the end of taxpayers willingness to fund federal budget deficits/surpluses.

 

Additional Contraption Siting Criteria:

The project must be located underground in two connected circular tunnels. These tunnels must be centered around a complex that can provide support services. These tunnels should be located in an area with limited topographic relief. This project should be situated in as uniform a soil as possible. Information about geology is also important.

Three potential sites for the contraption should be identified. The site cannot be located so that it passes under a river or major stream (minor streams are compatible) the site should be located more than 2 miles from a lake. The site must not pass under any industrial or residential landuse. Avoid passing under and interstate and avoid state highways if possible. Avoid wetlands. The SC cubed needs lots of power. Locate the site within 30miles of an existing power plant oridentify a site that is within 30 miles of the power plant being situated by another team. Be sure to identify a power line corridor between the power plant and the rings. The rings involve acquisition of a right-of-way 250 feet wide above each ring and the connector tunnel. Access shafts must be built at 1-mile intervals around the ring. The outerring is 5 kilometersin radius with an inner ring 4 kilometers in radius, a connector tunnel to accelerate particles of matter to speeds approaching the speed of light when the particles collide they break-up into their sub-atomic parts. This project will test the limits of mans knowledge of the beginning of the universe since it will cost billions of dollars to build and operate it will also create the conditions that will test the end of taxpayers willingness to fund federal budget deficits. Use the census bureau web site to determine population within 10 miles in 1990 also estimate income and other characteristics of the population of the enclosing census tract.

 

OUTPUT: You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.

The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, the aquifers and their suitability, and buffer zones around hydrography, distances to major cities, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use. Also print out relevant TIGER data from the census bureaus web site. And aerial photography and topo maps from Terraserver is available.

Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your facility where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THEME-PARK SITING CRITERIA

 

Locate TEXASLAND! A ADisney@ style theme park. Pick three potential locations. (Murphy=s law means your site of choice will be next to the ranch of a retired senator or the sacred burial ground for an Indian Tribe, etc, so always have another option).

 

The theme-park must occupy a contiguous site of between 2,500 and 7,500 acres. Ideally it should have a stream flowing through the property that can be dammed to form water features for lakes and a boat ride. The theme park should have excellent access to Interstate 45. The theme park will have six separate areas around a central core that provides parking and restaurants, shops and other support facilities. One area is Olde Mexico, another is Cajun Country, another is Native America, Another is Longhorn Trail, another is Oil Patch and finally there is Techno-Texas.

 

Additional Siting Criteria for TEXASLAND!

Cajun Country needs a swamp. Olde Mexico needs to be higher and dryer. Each area will have a themed ride that will either be a roller coaster or a water ride. The team should think up original names for each ride. The team may include other elements at its discretion.

Pick at least three potential locations for the theme park.

The site must be within 1 mile of a highway and located not more than 15 miles from a city that can provide additional services. The site must be within 20 miles of a lake.

The site should not be located within 2 miles of industrial landuse. The site should not be located within 1/10 mile of transportation landuse. Housing for 5,000 employees must be identified. This housing can be part of an existing city. The housing area should be no more than 15 miles from the theme-park. Three alternative sites should be identified and for each the landuse, vegetation soils should be determined. For each site the straight line distance to the nearest town and city and distances along the highways to all of the other cities in the study area should be determined. The detailed design will include a parking area with highway access, a monorail circling the park, tracks for each ride that uses roller coasters/trains and a canal system for the water ride, restrooms, restaurants and other features appropriate to each theme area.Use the census bureau web site to determine population within 10 miles in 1990, also estimate income and other characteristics of the population of the enclosing census tract.

 

OUTPUT: You should generate about ten maps with layouts, etc.


The entire study area with your sites highlighted and labeled and highways, rivers, lakes and cities and towns and county boundaries, the soils, distances to major cities, and buffer zones around hydrography, a close-up of each site with surrounding land-use. Also census data from the TIGER web site and aerial photography and topo maps if available from Terraserver.

Put this material together into a report summarizing this information with appropriate maps and tables and a discussion of the factors that lead you to site your facility where you did and possible problems with the chosen sites.