___________________________________________________________________________________________________

155 Clarkesville Street

Post Office Box 331

Cornelia, GA 30531

Main Line: 706-894-2331

Cell: 706-244-8180

Atlanta Area Phone: 678-267-3690

Fax: 678-267-3731

Email:jmsmith@jmsmithengineering.com

September 27, 2015

U.S. Department ofTransportation 

Docket Management System

1200 New Jersey Ave.,SE 

Washington, DC20590

Re: Request for Additional Information for Docket Number FAA-2015-2160

Dear Madam, Sir,

We received your letter dated September 18, 2015. Pursuant to your request we submit the following 

information:

Reasoning why granting the request would be in the public interest; that is, how would it benefit 

the public as a whole:

The use of the Ebee sUAS will greatly benefit the public as a whole by increasing the safety of 

gathering information for design for our Civil Engineering projects. Traditionally, we have primarily 

used land surveyors for the gathering of all of our information for design. Land surveying by nature is 

dangerous at times. Land surveying often requires surveyors to operate on roads with heavy traffic, 

steep terrain, and environmental hazards. This can pose hazards to motorists, the surveyors, and the

environment.

The use of the Ebee will help serve to identify environmental aspects of sites will allowing these items 

to be undisturbed by foot traffic or by having to “cut line” to get to these sites. This will help to 

identify streams, wetlands, special vegetation, large tree masses, and steep terrain. Additionally, many 

of the surveyors that work in our area are injured by wildlife such as yellow jackets, snakes, and other 

wild animals.

The data gathered by the Sensefly Ebee system will provide a more detailed picture of the area of 

concern, thus allowing for more complete design taking into consideration safety, sight distances, 

environmental concerns, and other general information that is difficult to gather utilizing conventional 

techniques of land surveying.

We will utilize our system to safely, quickly and effectively gather information to enhance the 

information gathered by our surveyors in the field. This will provide a more complete picture of our 

sites and allow designs that are both safety conscious and environmentally sensitive.
September 27, 2015

U.S. Department of Transporation

Request for Additional Information for Docket Number FAA-2015-2160

Page 2

CONCLUSION

The Civil Engineering profession as a whole focuses on the safe and efficient design of facilities 

utilized by the public. By utilizing the data gathered by the Sensefly Ebee, we can provide more 

complete designs by taking into consideration information that would be difficult to capture in the 

field. The operation will be of great benefit to our clients and the public at large by providing accurate 

and detailed modeling of sites allowing our firm to be more accurate and timely in delivering of

engineering designs and opinions on properties.

Should you have any questions, please contact me at (706) 894-2331 or email 

jmsmith@jmsmithengineering.com.

Yourssincerely,

Jason M. Smith, PE

President