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Board 29: A Service-Learning Project for Surveying Students: Establishing Base-Flood Elevations in Special Flood Hazard Area A

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Conference

2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Portland, Oregon

Publication Date

June 23, 2024

Start Date

June 23, 2024

End Date

July 12, 2024

Conference Session

Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL) Poster Session

Tagged Division

Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/46865

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Paper Authors

biography

Salvatore Marsico Pennsylvania State University

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Dr. Marsico is an Associate Professor of Engineering and Legal Issues in Engineering in the University College of Penn State University.

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biography

Henrique Candido de Oliveira Pennsylvania State University

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Dr. Henrique Oliveira is currently an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Surveying Engineering – at Penn State University - Wilkes-Barre campus. His teaching responsibilities are in a broad area of Geomatics encompassing the areas of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, GIS. And Geodesy. His appointment began in August 2022 at PSU. Previously, Dr. Henrique was an Associate Professor at the University of Campinas (Brazil), enrolled in the School of Civil Engineering, Architecture, and Urban Design (from 2017 until 2022), teaching courses related to plane surveying, Photogrammetry, and Remote Sensing. His research is primarily in Surveying and Geospatial Science, working with topics related to engineering problems with attention to the Transport field. In 2010, he graduated in Cartographic Engineering, followed by a master's degree in Cartographic Science in 2013, both from the Sao Paulo State University in Brazil. During his PhD, he had the opportunity to develop part of his major at Purdue University and obtained his Doctorate certificate from Sao Paulo State University in 2016.

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Abstract

Base Flood Elevations (BFE) in FEMA’s special flood hazard area (SFHA). These SHFA’s are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year and a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30‐year mortgage. Because detailed elevation analyses are not performed for such areas, base flood elevations are not shown within these zones. Conventional financing of homes requires that the property be located within a zone outside of a flood-prone area. If the property is within a FEMA designated flood zone, the prospective purchaser is required to obtain flood insurance. Flood insurance in these flood-prone areas is based on the risk level associated with a particular flood hazard area. Flood hazard areas identified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) are identified as SFHA’s.

The objective of the service learning project provides students with an opportunity to work on a real-life project necessary to confirm a BFE for SFHA zone A. In accomplishing the task, students first performed geometric leveling from an identified department of transportation benchmark located on a bridge wing wall to the residence. Established localized permanent benchmarks provided known elevations concerning nearby FEMA designated BFEs. After that, captured GNSS data with GIS analysis followed to perform cross-section analysis from established BFEs. Data representation resulted in a graphical product highlighting the home’s orthometric height. Having completed the fieldwork, students submitted the deliverable to the client along with a job costing analysis.

This experience gave students an appreciation of the work required to establish BFEs utilizing various surveying techniques presented in courses throughout the undergraduate program.

Marsico, S., & Candido de Oliveira, H. (2024, June), Board 29: A Service-Learning Project for Surveying Students: Establishing Base-Flood Elevations in Special Flood Hazard Area A Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46865

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