The construction trade has a certain character for being a harsh environment in which brute force takes precedence over calculated thought; however this impression is far from appropriate. There is a huge amount of work that happens behind the scenes of the demolition and construction industry which is firmly rooted in the academic world. Moreover, this unseen work is vital to the success of the more visible procedures.
One branch of this unnoticed work is site surveying, or more specifically pre-demolition and post-demolition topographical surveying. This type of work demands a good balance of specific technical know-how as well as experience of the industry and a genuine intuition for the complexities of the job. This article explores the ins and outs of this work.
Topographical Surveys
A topographical survey is a study of the physical features of a particular piece of land. The purpose of a topographical survey is to map the naturally occurring and man-made features of a particular landscape to a high degree of accuracy.
Topographical surveys could be carried out on a very wide range of landscapes, from open countryside to urban developments and across a variety of reliefs and land surfaces. Surveys can be designed to take into account a great number of factors, such as ground variables or vegetation, and as such can be used for a number of tasks. A few of the more common uses are discussed below.
Common Applications for Topographical Surveys
Perhaps the most widely used, and most generally recognised application for topographical surveys is cartography, or map making. Modern maps include a great deal of information about the terrain they relate to, including waterways, reliefs and ground surface, all of which will have been gathered via a topographical survey.
Topographical surveys also have a key role to play in the construction business. When people or organisations are looking to build any kind of structure they will need to undertake extensive surveys as part of the design phase of the project. These surveys are often an indispensable part of any application for planning permission as well.
Surveys definitely play a key safety part in primary industries such as mining, or in other industrial sectors that interact with the land, such as demolition and infrastructure. Businesses in these fields will use surveys to prepare their projects, but also to ensure that they can ensure the safety of their staff on site.
A location due for demolition tasks might undertake a demolition survey regarding worker safety as well as monetary planning reasons.
Types of Survey
The arena of topography covers a large number of physical features so it is important to determine what type of topographical survey is appropriate for a particular situation.
“Lie of the land” Surveys
These types of topographical surveys are fashioned to create an overview of the physical characteristics of any given plot of land. Although the data collected by the survey will be extremely accurate, and may be very extensive, the purpose of these surveys is to provide a site summary.
These surveys will usually incorporate a boundary survey that sets out to determine the extent of the site and spotlight any particular restraints that are determined by the geography of the site. They can also include a level survey that will measure the elevation of the land and the numerous gradients that exist.
Building Surveys
Building surveys are more typically concerned with man-made structures on a site, including the surveying of special apparatus and even infrastructure features. This type of survey is more regularly associated with the demolition sector because it can give a detailed plan of the building to be demolished. It may be used on other projects as well.
A building survey will almost certainly include a measured survey, which entails creating a precise plan of the external and internal dimensions of a structure. Depending on the requirements of the job, a measured survey could provide simple building “footprint” measurements, or might produce a highly detailed plan of the structure. This information can be used to create interior floor plans and even roof plans.
Content of a Topographical Site Survey
A survey of a demolition site will almost definitely include the information gathered by the types of boundary and building surveys described above. This information will be required so the demolition company can plan a demolition that is both satisfactory and safe.
Surveys will often contain information about the utility services that are present on a site before any demolition or construction work takes place. This is an essential safety factor since any unmonitored destruction to pipes and cables carrying water, gas and electricity could be very dangerous.
Another aspect of the site survey will often be an audit of materials on the site. This type of study will be a quantity survey of the various types of materials that can be located on site, for example, tiles and masonry, concrete that can be utilised as hardcore or even wood. By getting an accurate audit of site materials the construction firm can more accurately gauge the need to import building materials, or they can re-use the materials on a different job.
Project managers may discover monetary benefits after topographical demolition surveys summarise material levels available on-site that can be re-used.
Importance of Site Surveys
Perhaps the most significant reason to undertake a topographical site survey is to ensure the health and safety of the individuals who will be doing work on the site. The industrial sectors that most commonly call for site surveys are dangerous enough as it is without having to worry about the condition of the ground on which they are working. Taking a comprehensive topographical survey can help to mitigate safety risks of this nature.
Another critical reason to get a suitable survey done is to identify any potential difficulties that may arise because of the physical characteristics of the area. Particular things may not be evident on the surface of the site and will only be discovered once digging or demolition has begun. By then it may be too late to fix these problems, or at best they will be costly issues to solve.
The inventory of site supplies, as previously stated, can be of great benefit to a demolition or construction enterprise working on a project. Not only are building materials themselves expensive, but importing them to the site may be a very expensive task in itself. Any time that material can be reused on site provides an opportunity to save development time and money. Only by taking an exact audit of these supplies can a company correctly plan its imported material requirements.
Topographical surveys can also identify other areas that will be of use to the project planners. For example, if the gradients on a site would be prohibitive to certain vehicles or equipment then a new access route or alternative machinery will need to be found.
Positioning of Survey Control
During the surveying and construction phases of a building project, the apparatus required for the physical surveying of the site and control of the survey data will often be stored on-site. This is clearly a problem when it comes to the demolition phase of a project since the equipment is both expensive and sensitive. It is therefore sensible to move this equipment off-site during demolition.
Once the demolition has occurred and the site has been deemed safe for workers to return to it, the surveying equipment can be restored to its original position on site. This will allow for efficient data gathering to take place for a post-demolition study, and retains a single point of contact for anyone who requires the topographical survey information. Most surveying companies will oversee this redeployment.
As a result of its popular use in the construction business, concrete demolition forms one basic method of operations for all demolition companies.
Who can Perform Site Surveys?
Because topographical site surveys can play such a vital role in the success or failure of a construction or demolition project it is critical that they are carried out carefully by the right people. There are different divisions of site surveying and each one will have specific certificates associated with it. Finding surveyors with these specific qualifications will certainly be advantageous.
When selecting a company to undertake the surveying work required for your project it will be wise to choose a company with a good reputation and a proven track record. Ask to see examples of their previous work and try to get feedback about their performance on previous projects.
Who will use the Survey Information?
Once an adequate level of details has been gathered by a site survey it needs to be handed out to the appropriate people on-site. Who gets what pieces of information will mostly depend on the job roles being performed, but can also rely on the stage that a project is at.
Project Planners
Project planners will usually require access to all of the information collected by a topographical survey, although they will particularly need to use information about the physical relief of a site before the design phase, and a site materials record before they can prepare the construction phase.
Demolition Experts
Demolition organisations will want to know about the internal and external characteristics of any building or structures that they are arranged to take down. Whilst every job will have individual requirements, demolition workers will generally need to know about the fundamental framework of a building and the materials it is made out of.
Site Engineers
Construction engineers on-site will be particularly interested in the survey information about the relief and topography of the terrain. It is usually the case that they will want to build on a flat surface, so they will use details about the natural lay of the land to calculate what work will be required to create a steady footing for any building.
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