Episode 292 - Steve Willard, PLS & 9/11

Today marks 25 years since the September 11 attacks—a day that forever changed our nation and countless lives. Episode 292 of The Geoholics is dedicated to remembering those we lost, honoring those who responded, and sharing an important chapter of surveying history that deserves to be preserved.

Our guest, Steve Willard, PLS, takes us back to the aftermath of 9/11 and the critical role land surveyors played at Ground Zero and throughout Lower Manhattan. When streets, buildings, monuments, control points, and familiar reference systems had been damaged, buried, or destroyed, surveyors helped restore spatial certainty amid unimaginable devastation—providing trusted information to first responders, engineers, contractors, utility providers, public agencies, and recovery teams.

Steve shares the technical challenges, dangerous working conditions, emotional toll, and acts of service that defined the response. We also explore what has changed since 2001—and why, despite tremendous advances in GNSS, laser scanning, drones, and real-time mapping, professional judgment and boots-on-the-ground verification remain irreplaceable during a crisis.

This is more than an episode about surveying. It is a conversation about service, courage, responsibility, and the quiet professionals who stepped forward when their expertise was needed most.

We remember. We honor. We will never forget.

Episode 292 featuring Steve Willard, PLS, is available today wherever you listen to The Geoholics.

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