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49 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, February 19, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classifieds Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 16, 2005 Carlos Velazquez of Epic Scan LTD moves his Light Detecting and Ranging (LIDAR) camera in place to map a circa-1880 public drinking well in Jacksonville. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Exploring Jacksonville’s well Laser imaging gives scientists a view of the well’s interior By SANNE SPECHT Mail Tribune JACKSONVILLE — Archaeologists are using a high-tech laser machine to get a three-dimensional look inside downtown’s newest attraction: a circa 1880 drinking well. As the linear green image rotates on a computer screen, each brick, stone and crevice inside the well show up in full-dimensional detail. The well was unearthed in April when Oregon Department of Transportation backhoes — working to rebuild a one-mile section of Highway 238 — ripped open its asphalt lid at the northwest corner of California and Third streets. Since that April morning, ODOT archaeologist Julie Schablitsky has been itching to sneak a deeper peek at the innards of the 25-foot, water-filled historical treasure. Advertisement But respect for the well’s rocky sides and unstabilized structure have kept her streetside. "We can’t always go everywhere we want to go because of size and safety factors," says Schablitsky. "But as an archaeologist, we want to record things because they don’t last forever. We want to see how the rocks are stacked and the dimensions." Jacksonville’s public drinking well sits encircled by a metal cage, topped with a condensation-covered Plexiglas sheet — and virtually unnoticed by passersby. Then, on Tuesday morning, an innovative surveying technique began collecting the data to give Schablitsky an up-close-and-personal visual. Standing at the well’s perimeter, Medford engineer Carlos Velazquez of Epic Scan LTD drew a small but interested crowd as he set up his high-tech laser imaging machine. Velazquez placed the Light Detecting and Ranging (LIDAR) camera at several locations around the well. Soon, laser-defined data came speeding into the system’s on-site computer at a rate of 1,000 points a second. "What you end up with is essentially a non-intrusive 3-D image," says Velazquez. "You’ll be able to measure every last rock and stone and the gaps in between them. "I could turn the camera and map the face of the Jacksonville Tavern," says Velazquez. Velazquez may generate more local images soon — at Siskiyou Summit’s Tunnel 13. The 3,100-foot tunnel remains closed more than a year after vandals set a fire that caused a cave-in. LIDAR imaging may be able to provide data to help facilitate repairs. One of the first engineers to operate the laser scanner, Velazquez, a graduate of Crater High School and Southern Oregon University, has traveled around the globe in the past few years. He has created 3-D models of everything from downed submarines to oil reserves to the Oregon Caves. Velazquez’s most interesting job so far also involved a watery discovery. In Charleston, S.C., he scanned Civil War submarine H.L. Hunley — the first submarine to sink a ship in battle. Unfortunately, the sub went down with its target. And Velazquez created a 3-D model that showed the artifacts buried in sand inside the submarine — including the skeletal remains of the seven crew members and a gold piece owned by Lt. Dixon, the man in charge of the ill-fated vessel. Back in Jacksonville, the well will still retain some of its mystery despite the laser imaging data. City crews figure the well has at least 18 feet of water still in it — up four feet from last spring’s measurement. And the machine’s laser beam can’t penetrate water. "We can’t see below the water because it refracts or absorbs the beam," says Velazquez. Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers Advertisement s