Survey Stories of the Day

In August of 2017, I was performing a topographic survey. This job was located near Broomfield, Colorado. One of the great aspects of being a field surveyor is that you never know what you will find, see, or experience. On this day, I found a bag with stolen guns, jewelry, and coins. WOW!” —Jeff Van Horn, PLS, Survey Crew Chief

 

 

 

Surveyors often locate section corners. In Colorado, often they are in a range box. SURPRISE!” — Jeff Van Horn, PLS, Survey Crew Chief

 

Surveying—The Second Oldest Profession…

Land surveying has existed throughout much of recorded history, as early as 6,000 years ago. In Egypt, surveys were used to track the overflows of the Nile River and boundaries would be re-established. The north-south orientation of the Great Pyramid of Giza building in 2700 BC also demonstrates the Egyptians command of surveying. Stonehenge in 2500 BC shows that the monument was set by surveyors using peg and rope geometry. The Romans made surveying a profession and established basic measurements for the Roman Empire for a tax registry of its conquered lands in 300 AD. In England, William the Conqueror commissioned the Domesday Book in 1086, Britain’s earliest public record, used surveying to cover all of England including: landowner names, area, land quality, and specific information of the area’s content and habitants. Today, surveys are used before any building project can begin—from boundary lines, homes, roads, pipelines, to the tallest skyscraper.

What Makes Land Surveying Important?

Surveyors provide the foundation for sound engineering. The precise information they collect is the starting point for planning projects and developing solutions.

National Surveyors Week is this week – March 17-23, 2019. National Surveyors Week’s objective is to raise awareness of the profession through education, media, and public service. In celebration of National Surveyors Week, and the important role surveyors have played in our firm’s success, we polled members of our survey staff to learn more about the profession. Baseline’s surveying team was asked to reflect upon their experiences as surveyors, and answer questions in our “Survey the Surveyors.” See what our surveyors had to say each day this week for their survey responses.

4. What do you feel are the top two challenges you face as a surveyor?

The first challenge might be keeping up with the cost and speed of changing technology in order to stay relevant in the industry. The other challenge might be staying current with all the rules and regulations required by different towns, cities, and counties. Also, changes having to do with the current political climate, especially when it comes to oil and gas work.” —Jayme Hobin, CAD Technician II

Lack of educational institutes and personnel entering the industry.” —Aaron Demo, PLS, Survey Division Manager

Extreme weather and lack of communication.” —Travis Winnicki, Survey Crew Chief

Gathering the most information and being as accurate as possible while also being able to have engineers or techs understand and create the right product.” —Danny Miller, CAD Technician II

The two top challenges would be measuring correctly and data collection/presentation.” —Jeff Van Horn, PLS, Survey Crew Chief

Understanding what you are doing and not screwing it up.” —Doug Lancaster, LSIT, Survey Project Manager