Geospatial information plays a critical and central role in all the work that TACP does.  Whether the organisation is designing nature-friendly urban centres, monitoring the environmental impacts of major construction projects, exploring cultural connections with the landscape or devising green infrastructure strategies, it needs to have an effective way to collect, visualise, analyse and share geospatial data throughout its projects.

In 2015, TACP migrated from legacy and open source geographic information system (GIS) products to Esri’s ArcGIS suite of solutions.  “ArcGIS provided the complete holistic package,” recalls Tim Wroblewski, Associate Director at TACP.  “With its wealth of apps, tools and capabilities, ArcGIS now supports the entire lifecycle of our projects, from initial strategy to construction, aftercare and evaluation.”

Ecologists use mobile apps including ArcGIS Sweet, ArcGIS Survey123, ArcGIS QuickCapture and ArcGIS Field Maps to record environmental observations and conduct surveys in the field.  Teams collect data in a consistent and time-efficient way for a wide range of activities from bat and dormouse sightings to the brightness of lights at night and the potential visual impacts of new developments on landscape and residential views.

Using ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Experience Builder, TACP has created a wide range of web apps that give project teams, clients and contractors instant access to project data, whether they are working in the office, at home or on a site.  During the landscape monitoring phase of a project, landscape architects use ArcGIS Field Maps on site to identify their location and associated landscape plot, input data on the success of planting and seeding, and confirm requirements for maintenance and plant replacement.

TACP makes extensive use of ArcGIS Online for visualising data and sharing information with stakeholders, including clients, subcontractors and the public.  It has created several operational dashboards, using the ArcGIS Dashboards tool, which are especially useful in the construction phases of projects for keeping contractors aware of environmental constraints, such as the locations of badger setts and environmental incidents that require contractor attention.

Teams throughout the organisation use ArcGIS Pro to conduct detailed spatial analysis of proprietary, open and third party data.  For instance, they can identify hot spots of reptile activity and create buffer zones around ponds occupied by protected great crested newts.  TACP has also used ArcGIS Pro to analyse and prepare inputs and updates for LANDMAP, a nationally consistent landscape baseline for Wales, managed by Natural Resources Wales.

TACP appreciates how well ArcGIS integrates with other third party software, including computer-aided design (CAD) packages and process automation software.  This has enabled the organisation to create highly efficient workflows for escalating health and safety concerns, and it has recently developed a robust permit-to-work system that is being used on the Banwell Bypass project in North Somerset to enhance environmental compliance.

Significant improvement in operational efficiency
Since the migration to ArcGIS, TACP has witnessed a significant improvement in the efficiency of its data collection processes, including habitat surveys. Teams no longer have to type up hand-written notes, degraded by the weather, and the data collected can be mapped in minutes. “We save hours of time for each project helping ensure that projects are delivered to time and under budget,” says Wroblewski.

Time- and cost-effective service for clients
TACP is confident that its operational efficiencies are contributing to cost savings, enabling it to offer a more time- and cost-effective service to its clients. For instance, for the A487 Caernarfon to Bontnewydd Bypass project, TACP’s subcontractors used to conduct bat surveys on paper. By using ArcGIS Survey123 and ArcGIS Quick Capture, and providing licences to its subconsultants, TACP has enabled bat surveys to be conducted and processed more time efficiently and cost effectively.

Well-informed project proposals
TACP relies on ArcGIS Pro to help it analyse data and put forward well-informed, statistically-accurate project proposals. In a recent project, the organisation used ArcGIS Pro to undertake multi-criteria analysis and objectively weight opportunities for woodland planting, solar and wind developments in the Marches region (Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin). “The ArcGIS outputs were graphically engaging and provided a clear direction to identify optimal land use,” says Zoë Maddocks-Dodson, GIS Analyst at TACP.

Effective collaboration and data sharing
Through the use of ArcGIS web apps, TACP’s employees, subcontractors and partners have access to all the data they need to do their work, whenever they need it. In the A465 Section 5 and 6 project, for instance, TACP is one of nine contractors who share project information via an ArcGIS-based project portal created by the principal contractor and TACP’s client, FCC Construcción. As Juan Ramon Mena from FCC Construcción says, “Collaborating with TACP via the ArcGIS platform has helped all stakeholders work towards meeting project programme and budgets.”

Clearer understanding of local issues
Using ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS StoryMaps, TACP can present information clearly to stakeholders, such as local residents and community groups, helping them to understand environmental or local issues that impact them. For a Welsh language and landscape initiative in South East Wales, TACP created a story map to engage a group of local people in a discussion about how local place names were being lost. “The story map was a great way of connecting people with the local, physical and cultural landscape,” says Harri Evans from TACP’s client, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council.