The Importance of Surveying Construction

Any construction project is guided by data consisting of standard elevations, reference points, and the distances obtained by surveying the site before setting up primary structural components or starting an excavation. Analyzing these figures helps determine the adjustments needed on the contour of the land as well as spotting the vital points where the primary components of the structure need to be erected or laid.

Surveying is the procedure of gathering topographical information about a certain location, including the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of significant points and the angles between them. With the aid of special instruments, such as theodolites and transits, dimensions that are no longer possible to measure using traditional measuring tools can be measured almost perfectly accurate.

Horizontal structures like roads and bridges can be built with safe and adequate curves and super-elevations if all sites are properly surveyed. The procedure particularly helps in long distance measurements for highways and pipelines. By simply measuring the angles using the vernier installed in a transit, elevation and distance can be calculated by applying elements of trigonometry and geometry.

The distances and angles become the engineer’s basis for the necessary changes in the site and the manner the components of the structure are to be laid out. A construction survey for roads, for example, helps the civil engineers determine how much volume of earth is to be cut or filled to make it less steep. If there is a cliff or mountain in the way that is no longer adjustable by cutting or filling, constructing a bridge or a tunnel is required.

Vertical structures involve shorter distance measurements. Surveying for these structures focuses more on the elevation at each vital point to make sure all the components drawn into scale are constructed proportionally. A construction survey also helps keep surfaces leveled and columns and beams well-aligned. In this way, the structure is at a state of equilibrium, without excess angles that might cause it to lean.

Land surveying is a type of surveying method using the same instruments and techniques but is confined to locating territorial boundaries. Unlike a construction survey, this method concentrates more on horizontal distance rather than on elevation. This is normally performed by a geodetic engineer or a licensed surveyor for tracing or retracing property perimeters. It is also known by the technical term reference monumentation.