Sources of mapping (GIS) data

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Massachusetts GIS data MassGIS Data Layers



Maps showing the pipelines through Mason

Map thumbnail

Bob Dillberger has provided the following maps showing the proposed pipeline pathways superimposed on maps of Mason.

All the maps show town boundaries, roads, conservation lands, streams and buildings. The orange bands show the fire danger zone if a pipeline breaks - wider for the larger 36" pipe and narrower for the 12" pipe which would contain only 1/9 the amount of gas per mile. They are provided in both .PDF and .PNG formats.

Large size (24x30) maps with lot lines & numbers and the status of access denial to KM (updated 2015/08/09 to include the changes in the routing of the 12" lateral made in KM's July 24 update):
Mason_Parcel_Access_Map.pdf (1.2 MB)
Mason_Parcel_Access_Map.png (1.8 MB)

Large size (24x30) maps which add lot lines & lot numbers (updated 2015/01/29):
Pipeline+Parcels_24x30.pdf (1.5 MB)
Pipeline+Parcels_24x30.png (2.1 MB)

Small size (8.5x11) maps which add only lot lines (updated 2015/01/29):
Pipeline+Parcels_8.5x11.pdf (424 KB)
Pipeline+Parcels_8.5x11.png (608 KB)

Large size (24x30) maps showing hydrology (soil drainage classes, aquifers)
Pipeline+Hydrology_24x30.pdf (1.6 MB)
Pipeline+Hydrology_24x30.png (2.1 MB)

Small size (13x16) maps showing the conservation parcels and NED pipeline
NED_Impact_Cons_Land_Mason.pdf (304 KBB)
NED_Impact_Cons_Land_Mason.png (416 KB)

Bob has also provided a map on Google Maps Gallery showing the entire pathway of the pipeline in NH and MA. Google Maps Gallery: Northeast Energy Direct  

and a map on Google Maps showing the entire pathway in MA and NH with the initial compressor stations Here




Maps showing the pipelines through all affected towns

Russ Gaulin of Winchendon, MA, has created a wonderful set of 56 maps showing the pipeline path in every affected town in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. These 13,000:1 scale maps are designed for 48"x36" printing, but can be viewed on-screen. They are wonderfully compact - averaging only a couple of MB each and show parcel outlines, where available, in the affected zones. Click here for Russ Gaulin's maps.

Bob Boynton, New Ipswich Conservation Commission Chair provided a link to a beautiful map on GISglue of New Ipswich. Click on the Layers icon and you can turn on the Pipeline layer. There is also a Tax Parcels layer!


The following unofficial maps covering only NH towns were created by me as a private citizen effort to produce maps - I claim no mapping expertise. My hope it that they will help inform the public about the location of the proposed pipeline in a format which is more familiar than the fragmented and variously rotated sections provided in the official proposal.

Each map is at 1:60,000 scale (1" = 5,000'). The base layer is from the 7.5' USGS Topographic Quads, drawn somewhat lighter than usual.
"Shallow to bedrock" soils are highlighted in orange. These are areas in the USDA/NRCS Soils Maps which show soils whose maximum depth to bedrock is less than 60". These areas would be expected to require extra-extensive blasting during pipeline trenching.
The 400' wide pipeline "study area" is shown in blue; the pipeline itself would be routed somewhere within that 400' zone, depending on what the surveys find.
The wider red band shows the "HCA" (High Consequence Area) calculated based on the pipeline's diameter and operating pressure and assuming that the pipeline is centered in the "study area". The industry study used to calculate the HCA states: "an HCA is defined as the area within which the extent of property damage and the chance of serious or fatal injury would be expected to be significant in the event of a rupture failure." Details of the calculation and the study itself can be found here.

CAUTION: USGS Topographic maps are updated only infrequently. For example, the four topos covering Mason were last revised in 1985 to 1988, more than a quarter-century ago. The hills, valleys, streams and town boundaries have not changed much since, but roads have been extended and many new structures built.
Estimates of the number of structures potentially affected by the pipeline will be low by a significant amount if based on the topo maps.
Mason was able to procure up-to-date building and parcel boundary GIS layers from its Regional Planning Commission. A comparison of the topo-based map of Mason found below with Bob Dillberger's map of Mason which uses our RPC's up to date building layer will show the difference!
Updated layers from your RPC, if available, will only be provided in response to a request from the Town; doing so is strongly recommended.

Four sets of maps were created:

300dpi: xxx_60K.pdf to produce a reasonably small (5 MB) file. However, at 300dpi the underlying topographic map details are of poor quality. Good enough to recognize hills and ponds, but the street names may be hard to read.

+Roads: xxx+Rds_60K.pdf which adds a currents Roads layer which includes road names. This only very slightly increased the file size but makes the roads and names much easier to read.

600dpi: xxx_HR_60K.pdf these High Resolution files average 15 MB, but provide a much improved topo base.

NoTopo : xxx_NT_60K.pdf Only roads, boundaries and the pipeline for minimum file size (1.5 MB average).

Just click on the appropriate file in the table below to download the file(s) you want.

Map thumbnail Map thumbnail Map thumbnail Map thumbnail
300 dpi Winchester_60K.pdf Richmond_60K.pdf Fitzwilliam+Troy_60K.pdf Rindge_60K.pdf 5 MB, small
+ Roads Winchester+Rds_60K.pdf Richmond+Rds_60K.pdf Fitzwilliam+Troy+Rds_60K.pdf Rindge+Rds_60K.pdf + Road layer
600 dpi Winchester_HR_60K.pdf Richmond_HR_60K.pdf Fitzwilliam+Troy_HR_60K.pdf Rindge_HR_60K.pdf 15 MB, clear topo
No Topo Winchester_NT_60K.pdf Richmond_NT_60K.pdf Fitzwilliam+Troy_NT_60K.pdf Rindge_NT_60K.pdf 1.5 MB, NO topo
Map thumbnail Map thumbnail Map thumbnail Map thumbnail
300 dpi NewIpswich_60K.pdf Mason+Greenville_60K.pdf Brookline+Milford_60K.pdf Amherst_60K.pdf 5 MB, small
+ Roads NewIpswich+Rds_60K.pdf Mason+Greenville+Rds_60K.pdf Brookline+Milford+Rds_60K.pdf Amherst+Rds_60K.pdf + Road layer
600 dpi NewIpswich_HR_60K.pdf Mason+Greenville_HR_60K.pdf Brookline+Milford_HR_60K.pdf Amherst_HR_60K.pdf 15 MB, clear topo
No Topo NewIpswich_NT_60K.pdf Mason+Greenville_NT_60K.pdf Brookline+Milford_NT_60K.pdf Amherst_NT_60K.pdf 1.5 MB, NO topo
Map thumbnail Map thumbnail Map thumbnail Map thumbnail
300 dpi Merrimack_60K.pdf Litchfield_60K.pdf Londonderry+Hudson_60K.pdf Windham+Pelham_60K.pdf 5 MB, small
+ Roads Merrimack+Rds_60K.pdf Litchfield+Rds_60K.pdf Londonderry+Hudson+Rds_60K.pdf Windham+Pelham+Rds_60K.pdf + Road layer
600 dpi Merrimack_HR_60K.pdf Litchfield_HR_60K.pdf Londonderry+Hudson_HR_60K.pdf Windham+Pelham_HR_60K.pdf 15 MB, clear topo
No Topo Merrimack_NT_60K.pdf Litchfield_NT_60K.pdf Londonderry+Hudson_NT_60K.pdf Windham+Pelham_NT_60K.pdf 1.5 MB, NO topo