Mapping a Shoreline's Hidden History

Every project starts with existing conditions, and until we started using SiteMarker, that information arrived scattered: survey files, consultant reports, drone flights, and hundreds of phone photos nobody could place a month later.

The Condado Lagoon pushed that problem to its limit. We are designing a living shoreline for the San Juan Bay Estuary Program along an edge filled in the 1950s, where failing outfalls, erosion, and collapsing sea walls overlap. The work is FEMA-funded, so before we design anything we have to prove what is failing and why. To complicate things further, our consultants are spread across San Juan, the rest of the island, and New York.

With SiteMarker, every geotagged phone photo, drone image, survey, and underwater photo now lands on one shared map, with our base plans overlaid on top. We tag each pin by condition, such as outfall, erosion, or sea wall, so anyone can turn on a layer and see where problems cluster.

The biggest surprise came from site history. SiteMarker enabled us to virtually lay the 1950s plans of the original shoreline over today's conditions, and we confirmed that an 18-inch pipe now exposed at the water's edge is the one drawn in 1957. A sea wall we assumed was from the 1990s turned out to be original, which gives it historic value and drastically changes the design conversation.

It also changed how we work with others. Our coastal engineers and our client log in directly. The engineers no longer ask me to go back out to the lagoon, and the client has seen for themselves that the project is bigger than the bioswales they first expected.

Whether your site is a shoreline, a park, or a streetscape, the lesson travels: the site record becomes the project record, and it is what lets you defend a design to clients, reviewers, and funders.

Learn more during ASLA Tech Day on November 18.

Wednesday, November 18 | Virtual | FREE for ASLA members

Free for ASLA Members: Tech Day

Landscape architecture is evolving rapidly and staying competitive means equipping your firm with the latest digital workflows. On Wednesday, November 18, join us online for ASLA Tech Day, a virtual program crafted to bring you practical solutions in site analysis, documentation, and digital modeling.

Registration is completely free for all ASLA members, associates, and student members, offering direct return on your membership investment along with critical professional education.

Log in to learn.asla.org with your existing ASLA account email and password.

Mapping Change: How Machine Learning Reveals Shifting Landscapes

The day kicks off at 1:00 p.m. Eastern with an ASLA Online Learning Lab presented by Esri, eligible for 1.0 PDH (LA CES/non-HSW). Senior Solution Engineer Renia Kagkou will demonstrate how Geospatial AI and satellite imagery can uncover land-cover patterns, track urban expansion, and support resilient master planning when baseline data is scarce.

Following the session, gain real-world workflow advantages during back-to-back industry demonstrations from our corporate partners, SiteMarker at 2:15 p.m. for automated field reporting and Land F/X at 3:00 p.m. for advanced Revit collaboration.

Whether your priority is earning continuing education credits or discovering modern software to streamline project delivery, Tech Day gives you access to premier industry innovators from your desk. If your schedule will not permit you to attend live, registering still guarantees you access to the on-demand recordings.

Tech Day is brought to you by:

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