My project is made up of two parts: the first portion of my project involved organizing a small data set. The second portion of my project involved analyzing the spatial distribution of fire hydrants in the area. The data set I was working with represents a portion of Burnaby approximately two square kilometers. The area in question focuses on the intersection of Lougheed Highway and Gaglardi Way. Paul Degrace obtained the data from the City of Burnaby engineering department. The data set consisted of twelve separate coverages. I added to the existing coverages and I created three new coverages.
The intended use of this data set is as an am/fm training set. People in GIS training sessions will use it to become familiar with Arcview. The organization of the data set is based on the Atlanta on the s-drive in the sis lab. Most students are not familiar with the Atlanta area. Using a local data set will allow students to put GIS into a local context. It also shows them how GIS is used at a local level by municipal departments.
The second portion of my project involves analyzing the spatial distribution of fire hydrants in the area. I came up with this idea after looking at the database for the first part of my project. I noticed that the hydrants coverage gave me the best opportunity for analysis. I looked at the current distribution of fire hydrants in the area to see if they would serve the area in the event of a fire.
Residents in the area and the fire department might have interest in this information. Local residents might have a false sense of security. They would like to know if there homes were at risk even if it is a small risk. The Burnaby fire department might also be interested in this information. Knowing which homes are well served by the existing system and those homes that are not would allow them to make the necessary preparations. Developing a contingency plan could prevent serious damage in the event of a fire. The City of Burnaby might also be interested in the information so they could add additional hydrants to fill in the necessary gaps in their infrastructure. They would have to take several factors into account to see if it is worth the added costs. It might be not be worth while to install new hydrants; developing a plan to deal with the gaps might be more effective .