Projects | Experience that counts

As GIS consultants with over 25 years in the industry, we provide quality GIS consulting services & expertise in engineering GIS solutions that fit your needs.

city of riverside

2020 - 2023

GIS Web Viewer Development

The City of Riverside subcontracted with Psomas and Eckersall in 2020 to create three new web GIS viewers using ArcGIS Server, Portal, and Geocortex technologies. The City has a massive collection of GIS data which had been migrated from ArcInfo 7.x to ArcSDE 10.x in a previous Task Order. Our project was the creation of all web-based mapping viewers to replace the original ArcInfo viewers. This project was completed 100% remotely, including interaction with many City staff. 

Our tasks for this project included:

  • Organize and conduct User Requirements meetings
  • Record User Requirements and logically group them to set milestones
  • Develop a System Design
  • Publish over 500 layers from the new geodatabase to ArcGIS Server and Portal
  • Develop custom Geocortex workflows and reports to automate many City tasks
  • Create the following Viewers using Geocortex:
    • An in-house GIS Viewer for City staff
    • An in-house Utility GIS Viewer for City Water & Electric staff
    • A public GIS Viewer
  • produce over 11 hours of training video for City staff & IT administrators

placer county water agency

2019 - present

On-call GIS Consulting & Web Development

Placer County Water Agency contracted with Eckersall in 2019 to migrate their internal web mapping solution from ArcGIS Flex Viewer to Geocortex. The Agency also identified a need to assist with migration of the underlying geodatabase from MapBox and PostgreSQL to a new ArcSDE geodatabase in Microsoft SQL Server. Our engagement was expanded to include this data migration, conversion of all nightly scripts, connectivity to the HTE system data, and advanced reporting using SQL Server Reporting Services. The original project is complete and the new web GIS has been in production since October, 2020. This has been a challenging and rewarding project, particularly the conversion of complex PostgreSQL views, functions, and nightly procedures to SQL Server. In December, 2020 the Agency signed a contract with Eckersall to continue to provide on-call GIS Consulting services through December, 2024. Thus far, the Agency has relied upon Eckersall to provide responsive technical support, assist IT staff with issues or questions, and add new features to the web GIS tool.

  • Location Mapping: researching and geocoding home and business broadband customer locations

  • Automated production of nationwide KMZ files by county showing funding-eligible census blocks

  • Advanced analysis and estimation of location counts per census block

  • Utility line buffer analysis to determine impact of various proposed alternatives

Moss Adams

2019 - present

GIS Consulting

Moss Adams has contracted with Eckersall since 2019 to provide the following GIS Consulting Services, primarily supporting various Universal Service Fund (USF) rural broadband build-out initiatives:

  • Location Mapping: researching and geocoding home and business broadband customer locations

  • Automated production of nationwide KMZ files by county showing funding-eligible census blocks

  • Advanced analysis and estimation of location counts per census block

  • Utility line buffer analysis to determine impact of various proposed alternatives

Western municipal water district

2019 - present

Geocortex GIS Web Mapping Application

Western Municipal Water District (WMWD) has contracted with Eckersall since March, 2019 to perform a number of updates to its Geocortex Essentials sites.  Geocortex leverages the power of ArcGIS Enterprise to provide powerful and customizable web mapping applications.   WMWD utilizes this technology for a public Meter Request site, mapping for internal users, and internal handling of the Meter Request process.

The following updates have been completed thus far:

  • ArcGIS Server, ArcSDE, and SQL Server maintenance and tuning

  • Geocortex application development including Reports, Printing, and Workflows

  • Public and Internal web application updates

  • Development of automated Python tools

City of Costa Mesa

2017 - present

GIS Consulting & Web GIS Application Development

We serve as onsite and remote GIS consultants and have completed the following:

  • ArcGIS Server, ArcSDE, and SQL Server maintenance and tuning

  • Geocortex application development on the ArcGIS Server platform

  • Web applications for public use

  • Street address updates from City sources and field inspections. Parcel updates incorporating a mixture of County and in-house sources

  • Development of automated Python tools to import monthly property data updates and perform QC and packaging of updated Parcel and Address updates

  •  Documentation of all of the above procedures in a standardized format, including background, data sets with correct field structure, and step-by-step editing and packaging

  • On-call map editing and production services for various departments, typically for use at various Council and Commission meetings

city of Norwalk

2014 - present

GIS Consulting, Web-Based Mapping Services, Water/Sewer GIS Updates

The City has worked with Eckersall since 2014 to provide its XY MAPS web mapping on internal City servers for staff use. This initial effort was to provide a GIS foundation in a City where there was no previous capability. The following layers were created and brought online:

  • Parcels and City Boundary from L.A. County

  • Aerial photography purchased from L.A. Counts

  • Addresses from Parcels, City sources, and our field inventory

  • Zoning, Land Use, Street sweeping days, Trash days, Council Districts, and Norwalk Transit routes/stops from City source documents

In 2016, the Public Services Department contracted with Eckersall to create its new Water GIS and update its existing Sewer GIS.  Some existing water maps were in AutoCAD format and depicted facilities at a very high level.  The Sewer GIS existed but gravity main and manhole locations were accurate to within 30-50 feet in most cases.  Therefore the City needed the Sewer GIS accuracy improved and Water GIS created from scratch.

Norwalk Municipal Water System is comprised of eight mostly discontinuous zones, some connected to neighboring water companies, and one in the southern-most part of Artesia, two miles south of Norwalk.  Each zone posed unique challenges and construction methodology.  For example, South Artesia lacked any documentation beyond a hand-drawn sketch of water main locations.  A number of meters and valves in this zone were in back yards, marginally accessible, and/or buried.  In some zones, meters are read by Norwalk and distribution mains belong to other water companies.

City of Sierra Madre

2003 - present

XY•MAPS & Water GIS System

The City has been a client since signing up for the XY•MAPS service in 2003.  Staff use XY•MAPS each day to look up properties, view City-maintained infrastructure, open linked documents from the City’s network, and create maps and reports.

In 2016, the City of Sierra Madre tasked Eckersall with updating its Water GIS layers. To do this, we performed field GPS of updated and new valves or meters. Furthermore, mapping updates of any new or updated mains were applied.

There were many inputs including some inconsistent and incomplete maps, plans, drawings, and first-hand field staff knowledge.  Eckersall was able to synthesize all of these and combine GPS data collection to create a more accurate set of GIS data. 

city of downey

2015 - present

GIS Consulting & Web Development

Norwalk’s Public Services Department also contracted Eckersall to update the existing Sewer GIS. At the time, gravity mains and manholes were accurate to 30-50 ft. Since, we have improved accuracy to 10-20 ft.

Eckersall georeferenced approximately 16,000 engineering drawings, linking them to features in XY•MAPS. For example, water and sewer mains are clickable, and linked to all relevant drawings in which those mains exist. 

Additionally, Eckersall developed custom capabilities to upload and display documents to Laserfiche, directly from the XY•MAPS interface.

Other things completed by Eckersall include: 

  • Configuring a new Windows Server 2008 server with ArcGIS Server 10.2 and ArcSDE 10.2. 

  • Migrated existing ArcGIS Server services from 9.3 to 10.2 

  • Configured a public-facing server with XY•MAPS and set up to use separate open source software (PostGIS and Geoserver) 

san juan water district

2017 - 2018

GIS Needs Analysis

San Juan Water District (SJWD) had a robust Autodesk-based GIS system since the mid-1990’s, which included AutoCAD Map for data editing and Autodesk MapGuide to provide Intranet-based access to all staff.  This system provided access to GIS data, applications, and interoperability with their MMS, CRM, SCADA, and financial systems.  By 2016, various Windows Server updates had rendered the Intranet-based system inoperable with no clear path forward using the existing Autodesk technology.  SJWD released an RFP for a GIS consultant to study the current GIS system, interview staff, explore alternatives, and develop a comprehensive Needs Assessment, Conceptual Plan, and Implementation Plan.  The District was specifically seeking a firm experienced with multiple platforms including those from Autodesk and ESRI.

Eckersall was selected to provide these services, including the following tasks:

 

    • Development of Staff Questionnaires to assess current use and future needs for GIS and related technology

    • Interviews with staff to review all questionnaires and uncover additional needs

    • A GIS Needs Assessment based on tabulated Questionnaire/Interview findings

 

San Juan Water District

    • A Master GIS Data Catalog identifying all existing and possible future data

    • A Conceptual Plan which provided various GIS platform alternatives for SJWD consideration and guidance for a preferred alternative based on industry standards and other factors

    • An Implementation Plan based on the selected GIS platform (ESRI), including costs, schedule, and phasing to fully implement GIS with all desired interoperability with their MMS, CRM, SCADA, and financial systems.