Reminiscing on Land Surveying With Brent Peters, PS

With over 36 years of surveying experience, Brent is a Professional Land Surveyor (PS) providing services for a wide range of projects in the commercial and residential sectors. As a survey leader in Westwood’s Land Division, Brent is responsible for managing staff and projects; ensuring project quality; and staying abreast of industry trends, technologies, and equipment.

Brent has worked on a variety of projects over his career. One project that he found particularly challenging required 15 miles of survey control and mapping in an urban corridor for the development of a streetcar route.

“For this project, the survey team used many different data collection methods including terrestrial LiDAR, aerial LiDAR and photogrammetry, as well as conventional surveying,” explains Brent. “Coordinating the different methods and maintaining surveying accuracy and spatial integrity across all disciplines proved challenging.”

Another highlight was surveying for the Riverplace development located on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, MN. The team surveyed numerous parcels of multiple properties, some of which were entirely subterranean and three dimensional. The historic nature of the area provided an interesting retracement of the property boundaries. “The historic boundary information we reviewed and rectified could be traced back to a time when the mills and industry developed and shaped the riverfront area in the late 19th century,” notes Brent.  

Incorporating new technologies, along with the blending of geospatial data collection with traditional surveying methods, keeps Brent busy. “Here at Westwood, we are encouraged to stay at the forefront of changing technologies, which allows us to become more efficient and accurate in our work,” says Brent.

While away from his work as a surveyor, Brent is an amateur wildlife photographer and enjoys photographing all kinds of animals, including whitetail deer and wild horses.