Contract involves mapping nine towns in the State, including Bloomfield, Hartford, East and West Hartford, Newington, Portland, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield and Windsor, Connecticut.

The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, has awarded national GIS firm James W. Sewall Company a $1 million contract to map nine towns in the State, including Bloomfield, Hartford, East and West Hartford, Newington, Portland, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, and Windsor, Connecticut. Using all in-house capabilities, Sewall will obtain color aerial photography, develop planimetric mapping and topographic mapping, and produce digital orthophotography compatible with MDC's existing GIS.

Sewall has a history of successful mapping projects in Connecticut and with MDC. In 1993-1995, Sewall worked with the District to obtain black and white aerial photography and produce topographic maps for portions of Rocky Hill and Wethersfield. Sewall also completed planimetric and topographic maps for Newington in 1995 and East Hartford in 1996. Earlier this year, MDC commissioned Sewall to develop a fully integrated system of forest covertype mapping, inventory, modeling, and management planning for a 26,000-acre area of MDC-owned forest land. In the last ten years, Sewall has mapped portions of over 50 municipalities and utilities in the State.

For the new project, Sewall is under contract to obtain aerial photography of a 182-square-mile area at a scale of 1"=600'. During the missions, Sewall will utilize inertial sensory measurement in conjunction with airborne GPS to georeference the photography quickly and directly. The use of these technologies will eliminate the need for aerial triangulation in the mapping process, accelerating the schedule of the project and reducing its cost. From the photography, Sewall will compile 1"=80'-scale planimetric mapping, develop topographic mapping with 2-foot contours, and produce digital orthophotography at 0.5-foot pixel resolution. This two-year project is slated for completion in spring 2004 with the delivery of 9"x9" contact prints, digital planimetric and topographic map files in ESRI ArcInfo 8.1 format, and digital orthophotography in tif format.

MDC GIS Administrator Barbara MacFarland says, "We are pleased to be working with the Sewall Company. We have confidence in Sewall's ability to meet the strictest level of quality in data development and product delivery based on their keen understanding of our needs and those of our member municipalities."