Case Study: City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota cuts paperwork in half and improves utility GIS accuracy with Trimble

New city utilities GIS cuts paperwork in half; database now more accurate

The City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, faced growing pains as rapid development made its utility records outdated and error-prone: developers’ CAD plans had to be re-entered manually into the GIS, paper mapbooks went out of date, and each utility manually reviewed large numbers of South Dakota One Call locate requests—sometimes hundreds per day—creating inefficiency and inaccurate spatial data.

To solve this, the city adopted a mobile GPS/GIS workflow using Trimble Pathfinder/GeoXT receivers, ArcPad data collection, and designated departmental data stewards to capture, correct and upload submeter utility data regularly to the enterprise database and One Call. The result was far more accurate utility locations (typically within a foot), greatly reduced One Call ticket reviews (nearly 4,000 fewer tickets in 2004 vs. 2003 with particularly large declines in lighting and traffic), and improved staff productivity and job satisfaction.

City of Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Chris Laingen

GIS Technician