There are many different kinds of surveys but three of the more commonly used ones are topographical surveying, land surveying and underground utilities surveys. Exploring and understanding the different types or surveys and surveying is easy when you know how.

Topographical Surveys or Topo surveying

Topographical Surveying is the study and measurement of the Earth’s surface. This can reveal what natural or man-made geographical features exist in an area, large or small, the contours and shapes of the features themselves and even vegetation and the influence of human presence. The object of all this is to produce a three-dimensional map.

In order to provide this kind of accurate detail of the various levels and contours of the land, aerial surveys are conducted, and then at ground level survey teams with portable surveying equipment establish vertical and horizontal control points to confirm accuracy. In today’s world the data is collected and generated electronically.

Fed with all the data, computers combine distances, angles, and elevations and produce pictures, using contour lines, hypsometric tints and relief shading.

Land Surveys and surveying

Land Surveying is the measurement and accurate determination of the three dimensional positions of various points on a terrain. The purpose of this is generally to determine boundaries. Surveyors produce land maps marking out areas of private, communal or government ownership limits. This is constantly being done when there are serious property rights disputes or changes are planned for the area, such as for sub-dividing properties, new residential or town-planning layouts, when roads or other engineering structures are planned, or for the determination of ancient boundaries for historical or archaeological purposes.

Underground Utilities Surveys (electricity, Gas, Water and Television)

Underground Utilities Surveying has to be one of the most tricky and difficult types of exploration. Surveyors have to determine what is underground and cannot be seen. Before any development can take place it has to be discovered what, if anything lies under the ground. These may be drains, electrical or gas cables, sinkholes, water pipes or water pockets or buried tanks.

The first level of exploration is to collect every drawing, plan or bit of electronic data available for the area. This is often not totally accurate, but gives an idea of what installations were situated in the immediate area.

The next level involves picking out visible features, such as manholes, inspection hatch covers, meters, electrical poles, etc. Straight lines showing the shortest distance between them are drawn, and this narrows down the search. However these lines cannot always be totally relied on as rocks and other underground barriers can cause deviations, and sometimes the pipes or cables don’t run from the centre of each inspection element to the next, but slightly to one side or the other.

An indirect survey involves the latest technology, such as radar that penetrates the ground, X-rays, and frequency resonance.

If uncertainty still persists, the last step is drilling or digging potholes at regular intervals to confirm any of the data collected by the above methods.