On December 25, 2020, an explosion in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee shattered the peace of the holiday morning. While the 6:30 a.m. Central Time blast resulted in only eight injuries and one death (the perpetrator), the physical damage to Second Avenue North was extensive. In the hours that followed a nation that had already endured a challenging year woke to more sadness.
In the intervening days, the citizens of Nashville have demonstrated their strength of character, getting right to work with the intent to rebuild the damaged sections of downtown and return it to its former glory. To expedite that process, Earl Swensson Associates, Inc., (ESa), a nationally acclaimed Nashville-based architecture firm worked with FARO® to secure the use of the company’s 3D laser scanning technology to digitally map sections of First, Second, Third and Forth Avenues, as well as Broadway, in order to create a three-dimensional model of downtown and to provide a virtual template from which to rebuild.
Watch to learn how that process was achieved and how millimeter-accurate laser scans can capture not only the shape of an actual street, but buildings and nearby physical structures. By scanning almost 9,000 lineal feet of roadway in only one day, detailing windows, doors and the exact location of street utilities, the time it took to document the scene was greatly reduced.
As both a damage assessment tool and one of historic preservation (few records exist when these 150-year-old buildings were built) this kind of data capture is helping create an invaluable digital record for future development, upgrades and repairs. Because in the words of ESa’s Lee Davis, Senior Design Manager, “The true essence of preservation is really understanding what's there, so this is the best way to do that.”