Engineering surveys play a critical role in determining how your site will be planned in order for your construction project to attain its objectives. For instance, the engineering survey will locate underground utilities that you cannot build over. This article discusses the different steps that engineering surveyors may use in order to provide an accurate drawing of the underground utilities so that the architectural team can plan the layout of the development on the site accordingly.
Gathering Recorded Data
This step may involve conducting an internet search about the possible utility lines that may be buried at the site. The engineering surveyors can also talk to people in the neighbourhood in order to learn what utilities may have been installed in that area.
This data may only serve as a guide of what needs further investigation because the accuracy of the information may be low. For instance, the accounts of neighbours may not provide an accurate description of the location of buried utility lines.
Contacting Utility Companies
Information that is more reliable can be obtained by contacting the different utility companies for information about buried lines. However, this process is easier in places where the local authorities provide a phone number that interested parties can call in order to obtain information about all the utility lines that are buried in a given location.
The data gathered from such a query is also indicated on the preliminary engineering survey drawing that was based on the first search conducted online and among neighbours.
Actual Ground Survey
The engineering surveyors can now review all the data in their possession from the different sources discussed above. That data helps the surveyors to design a survey process that will yield dependable results in a cost-effective way.
At this point, the engineering surveyors will verify the existence of the suspected underground utility lines using different methods, such as potholing. Potholing refers to digging test holes in order to confirm that a utility line is actually located where the available data says it is located.
The confirmed utility lines will then be captured on a detailed survey diagram that outlines the coordinates of every underground utility line passing through the site where you would like to construct. This drawing is then given to the architects so they can use that information to plan where each aspect of your project, such as the parking lot and sewer tank, will be located.
As you can see, the process of conducting an engineering survey can be costly and time-consuming. You can make that cost more affordable by selecting an engineering surveyor who uses modern technologies, such as satellite surveying, in order to ease the survey process without compromising quality.
