Before the arrival of European immigrants in the United States, forests totaled about 1.05 billion acres, or about 43 percent of the country. Clearing of forest land in the East between 1850 and 1900 averaged 13 square miles every day for 50 years.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has been around for a long time. The precursor technology to RFID was originally developed as a musical instrument by the Russian physicist Leon Theremin, patented in 1928. The Theremin produces music by manipulation of electromagnetic fields around two antennae to produce sound.

April is recognized by Congress and most Governors across the U.S. as National Safe Digging Month as shovels (and backhoes) hit the ground for a busy season. It’s well known that excavation is a dangerous business. Excavation strikes on public utility lines lead to more than 2,000 injuries and 400 deaths each year[1]. The Common Ground Alliance (CGA) states that accidental utility strikes cost the U.S. at least $30 billion annually, based on self-reported data by stakeholders and state 811 call centers. And it looks like things are getting worse, not better.

For more than 50 years, Berntsen has worked alongside federal agencies to provide useful and quality products. From monuments that can be set in wetlands to RFID markers that integrate with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), federal agencies rely on Berntsen to deliver quality products that help them fulfill their missions.

The “Fourth Industrial Revolution” is well underway. Back in 2011, economist Klaus Schwab coined the term to refer to the rapid digitization and accessibility of technologies that spark a global shift in processes – in everything from how we communicate to how businesses and governments are managed.

It’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day! Since 1999 when it was first celebrated as the grand finale to Geography Week, GIS has been quickly put to use by many professions, industries and researchers. Today, GIS is becoming indispensable for paleontology - with the help of RFID.

Berntsen International, a leading manufacturer of infrastructure marking products, announces that its InfraMarker RFID App now supports Near Field Communication (NFC) and is available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Berntsen International, a leading manufacturer of infrastructure marking products, announces that its InfraMarker RFID app is now fully integrated with Esri’s ArcGIS Survey123 and ArcGIS Field Maps mobile applications.

Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) that leverages Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) deliver substantial benefits in the management and protection of underground assets.

We’ve all heard of RFID, a technology that’s been around since the 1930s. Did you know that it’s now one of the fastest-growing technologies in the world?

Money, Money, Money

Infrastructure is no longer an ignored necessity in the United States. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed in 2021, our country is making a once-in-a-lifetime investment in its economic backbone to the tune of $1.2 trillion over five years. In 2022, 6,900 specific projects have been launched in 4,000 communities in all 50 states.

It’s National 811 Day – a very important, but little-known commemoration. Anyone who is planning to disturb the ground should call this number before digging or excavating – or go to call811.com and connect online. Once you provide the area of excavation, locators will come out and mark the location of buried gas pipes, water lines, power cables and other underground utilities.

Madison, Wisconsin – March 7, 2022: Berntsen International, Inc., was recognized with the High Potential Award at the 2022 Esri Partner Conference (EPC) held in Palm Springs, California March 5–7, 2022. This award was presented to Berntsen International Inc., for the substantial opportunity for growth represented by its InfraMarker® Connected RFID™ solution that links the power of ArcGIS with RFID asset marking to deliver more accurate and efficient field operations.

It’s spring and construction is booming . . . hopefully with fewer actual “booms”, caused by utility strikes. Safe digging is something that’s near and dear to surveyors and any profession that involves excavation. As I mentioned in my last blog, preventable utility strikes cost at least $60 billion annually, not to mention the loss of life and life-altering injuries that can occur.

Madison, Wisconsin – March 7, 2022: Berntsen International, Inc., was recognized with the High Potential Award at the 2022 Esri Partner Conference (EPC) held in Palm Springs, California March 5–7, 2022. This award was presented to Berntsen International Inc., for the substantial opportunity for growth represented by its InfraMarker® Connected RFID™ solution that links the power of ArcGIS with RFID asset marking to deliver more accurate and efficient field operations.

2022 marks Berntsen’s 50th anniversary. Thank you, surveyors for your support over the past half-century. Berntsen has been supporting surveyors for longer that I’ve been surveying.

It’s been an interesting road, and I’ve really enjoyed digging into Berntsen’s storied past. I’ve come up with a few gems I’ll share with you throughout 2022. Here’s a quick overview of our history.

Most people don’t really think about how geographic information provides the framework for our entire existence. We exist as living organisms in time and space. Our minds may be occupied with far-way thoughts, but our memories are inextricably tied to the place where they were created. As long as we live and breathe, we always have a location. Shakespeare’s Hamlet said “To be or not to be, that is the question.” Surveyors say, “To be is to occupy a position relative to two axes.”

Berntsen International, maker of InfraMarker® Connected RFID™, announces a new release of the InfraMarker Mobile App, the field data collection component of the popular InfraMarker Connected RFID solution.

Urban flooding results in more than $9 billion in damages annually, while federal funding to support stormwater maintenance/upgrades averages about $250 million annually. It’s not surprising that stormwater infrastructure is in bad shape and has earned a grade of “D” from the ASCE.

The United Nations passed a resolution creating this day to celebrate the creative economy, which actually makes a lot of sense, considering the entire world is just beginning to come out of a pandemic that really forced us all to get creative just to do our jobs.

Fortunately, surveyors have made creativity a way of life. It seems like we have a pretty straightforward job – use our tools to verify property lines, monitor structures for movement over time, lay out the lines for construction, etc.