Construction Surveying

When constructing highways, roads, bridges, buildings, and other construction projects, construction surveying is required to establish the major features of the land’s surface that might affect the upcoming construction. The process aims to lay out calculated survey points on the construction ground as a guide for building site improvements derived from plans prepared by design professionals. The construction surveying can be of different types such as for:

• A single house or individual homeowner
• Staking a network of streets utilities and roads for multi-unit commercial and residential subdivisions
• Laying out large, complicated, multistory building sites
• Establish the position and alignment of bridges, highways, pipes, buildings, and other man-made objects.

After project completion, an "as-built" survey is done to identify any modifications during construction. "As-built" surveys are performed to (1) determine the vertical and horizontal location of points as constructed on the site and (2) to determine how much work has been accomplished up to a given date.

The Need for Construction Surveying

Surveying plays a vital role in any construction project, be it big or small. It has the potential to directly influence a project’s deadline, design features, budget, and resource allocation. Thus, there’s no room for error. Modern technology is used for the computations required for accurate placement of alignments, map projections, coordinate systems, and geodetic principles. Today, GPS technology is being used to provide real-time alignment and positioning of construction equipment.

The Process

The process initially requires a topographic survey of the construction site. For large scale construction projects, photogrammetric methods are employed to develop the base map. This base map further helps professionals to develop a base plan for the project. Once the alignment has been established, the amount of earth that must be moved, added or removed is computed. The key is to keep the earth hauling distances to a minimum. This is achieved via ‘mass diagrams’. Finally, land surveyors layout the slope and elevation of the various subgrades, top coat materials, and base. In the end, a smooth alignment with smooth transitions is achieved having adequate curved and straight sections. This allows space for safe public transportation.

Our Services

It is in the best interests of the land developer or construction company to take advantage of the skills of a qualified land surveyor to properly execute construction surveying. By outsourcing the construction surveying job to a professional registered land surveyor, a company can be certain of the reliability and accuracy of the results.

Our construction surveying services include:

• ‘As-built’ surveys
• Boundary Surveys
• Residential site staking
• Bridge layout
• Commercial facility layout
• Curb and gutter
• Building column layout
• Sewer and Drainage ‘As-builts’
• Construction fences
• Steel and Anchor bolts ‘As-builts’
• Driveways
• Lot Staking
• Road finish grade
• GPS control networks
• Rough road grade
• Sidewalks
• Silt fences
• Subdivision layout
• Slope stakes
• Volumetric Surveys
• Topographic surveys
• Water lines