Electronic manifest of underground facility locate marks

Abstract

A method performed by a device may include receiving information regarding a particular geographic area; retrieving an aerial image of the particular geographic area; displaying the aerial image; determining an approximate geographic location of a mark denoting an underground facility; overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, information concerning the approximate geographic location of the mark denoting the underground facility; and storing the aerial image and the information concerning the approximate geographic location of the mark denoting the underground facility.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed by a device, the method comprising:
 receiving first information regarding a particular geographic area including a dig area;   retrieving an aerial image of the particular geographic area including the dig area;   displaying the aerial image;   overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, second information concerning an approximate geographic location of a locate mark placed on a surface above an underground facility detected by a locate technician performing a locate operation in the dig area, the locate mark including at least one of a) paint, b) at least one flag, and c) at least one colored marker, denoting a presence of the underground facility; and   storing the aerial image and the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first information includes a geographic address of the particular geographic area. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving user input that identifies the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility within the geographic area; and
 overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, the second information based on the user input.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , where receiving the user input that identifies the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility within the geographic area includes receiving the user input from an input device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , where receiving the user input that identifies the geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility within the geographic area includes receiving data from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a distance from an environmental landmark in the displayed aerial image to the locate mark denoting the underground facility; and   displaying the distance from the environmental landmark to the locate mark denoting the underground facility on the displayed aerial image.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 converting the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility to a data set of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , where overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility includes:
 permitting a user to draw a shape on the displayed aerial image; and   indicating global coordinates corresponding to the drawn shape.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , where overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility includes:
 receiving location information from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device; and   presenting the location information from the GPS-enabled device on the displayed aerial image.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , where the GPS-enabled device is a locating device or a marking device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 overlaying third information on the displayed aerial image indicating a type of the underground facility denoted by the locate mark.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device, location information that identifies the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility within the geographic area; and   overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, the second information based on the location information.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , where overlaying, on the displayed aerial image, the second information concerning the geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility includes:
 providing a graphical object, corresponding to a type of underground facility, on the displayed aerial image to show the approximate geographic location of the locate mark denoting the underground facility on the displayed aerial image.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 transmitting the aerial image and the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the of the locate mark denoting an underground facility as a single image file.   
     
     
         15 . A device, comprising:
 a memory to store aerial images of a plurality of geographic areas; and   a processing unit to:
 receive first information regarding a particular one of the geographic areas including a dig area, 
 retrieve one of the aerial images from the memory based on the received first information, 
 receive second information concerning an approximate geographic location of an underground facility locate mark including at least one of a) paint, b) at least one flag, and c) at least one colored marker, placed on a surface above an underground facility detected by a locate technician performing a locate operation in the dig area and located within the particular one of the geographic areas including the dig area, 
 present, on the retrieved aerial image, the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate mark, and 
 store, in the memory, the retrieved aerial image and the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate mark. 
   
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 15 , where the processing unit is further configured to associate a geographic address with the retrieved aerial image of the particular geographic area. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 15 , where the processing unit is further configured to convert the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate mark to a data set of global positioning system (GPS) coordinates. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 15 , where the processing unit is further configured to:
 permit a user to draw shapes on the retrieved aerial image; and   indicate global coordinates corresponding to the drawn shapes.   
     
     
         19 . The device of  claim 15 , where the processing unit is further configured to:
 receive the second information as location information from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device; and   display the location information from the GPS-enabled device on the retrieved aerial image.   
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 15 , where the processing unit is further configured to:
 receive input from a user that identifies a type of the underground facility denoted by the locate mark; and   present third information on the retrieved aerial image concerning the type of the underground facility locate marks.   
     
     
         21 . The device of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a communication interface, where the processing unit is further configured to transmit to a server through the communication interface the retrieved aerial image and the second information concerning the approximate geographic location of the underground facility locate mark.   
     
     
         22 . A system, comprising:
 a central server to store a plurality of aerial images of a corresponding plurality of geographical locations; and   a user device to:
 identify a particular geographic location including a dig area, 
 determine whether the user device stores an aerial image corresponding to the particular geographic location including the dig area, 
 retrieve the aerial image from the central server when the user device does not store the aerial image corresponding to the particular geographic location, 
 retrieve the aerial image from a local memory when the user device stores the aerial image corresponding to the particular geographic location, 
 display the aerial image, 
 receive information regarding an approximate location of underground facility locate marks including at least one of a) paint, b) at least one flag, and c) at least one colored marker, located at the particular geographic location above an underground facility detected by a locate technician performing a locate operation, and 
 present, on the displayed aerial image, a marking that identifies the approximate location of the underground facility locate marks. 
   
     
     
         23 . A method performed by a device, comprising:
 receiving first information regarding a particular geographic area including a dig area;   retrieving an aerial image of the particular geographic area including the dig area;   receiving, from a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled device, second information regarding an approximate location of underground facility locate marks including at least one of a) paint, b) at least one flag, and c) at least one colored marker, on a surface above one or more underground facilities detected by a locate technician performing a locate operation;   displaying, as a combined image, the aerial image and the second information regarding the approximate location of underground facility locate marks; and   storing the combined image.