The demolition industry has a particular reputation for being a tough 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 grounded in the academic world.
One branch of this unnoticed work is site surveying, or more specifically pre-demolition and post-demolition topographical surveying. This kind of work calls for a good balance of specific technical understanding as well as experience of the industry and a natural intuition for the complexities of the job. This article explores the ins and outs of this work.
Topographical Surveys
A topographical survey is a report of the actual features of a given plot of land. The aim of a topographical survey is to chart the naturally occurring and man-made features of a specific 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 developed to take into account a great many factors, such as ground variables or vegetation, and as such can be used for a multitude of tasks.
Common Applications for Topographical Surveys
Perhaps the most extensively used, and most commonly recognised application for topographical surveys is cartography, or map making. Modern maps include a great amount of detail about the landscape they relate to, including waterways, reliefs and ground surface, all of which will have been collected via a topographical survey.
Topographical surveys also have a key role to play in the construction industry. When individuals or organisations are looking to construct any kind of structure they will need to carry out extensive surveys as part of the design phase of the project. These surveys are often an indispensable part of any application for planning permission too.
Surveys definitely play a key safety role in primary industries like mining, or in other industrial sectors that interact with the terrain, such as demolition and infrastructure. Organisations in these industries will use surveys to plan their projects, but also to make sure that they can guarantee the safety of their staff on site.
General topographical surveys are concerned with physical characteristics of land though building demolition surveys focus on man made buildings that are marked for destruction.
Types of Survey
The world of topography covers a large number of physical characteristics so it is beneficial to determine what form of topographical survey is appropriate for a particular scenario. A few of the more common types of survey required for construction sites are discussed below.
“Lie of the land” Surveys
These types of topographical surveys are fashioned to create a summary of the physical characteristics of any given plot of land. Although the data gathered by the survey will be extremely accurate, and may be very extensive, the purpose of these surveys is to give a site summary. They will usually be the first type of topographical survey that is carried out on a project.
These surveys will generally incorporate a boundary survey that sets out to define the extent of the site and highlight any specific restraints that are determined by the geography of the site. They can also include a level survey that will plot the elevation of the land and the numerous gradients that exist. Any survey can be customised to specification though.
Building Surveys
Building surveys are more generally concerned with man-made structures on a site, including the surveying of special machines and even infrastructure characteristics. This type of survey is more commonly associated with the demolition industry because it can give a detailed plan of the building to be demolished.
A building survey will almost certainly include a measured survey, which entails creating a detailed plan of the exterior and interior proportions of a structure. Depending on the requirements of the job, a measured survey could provide simple building “footprint” dimensions, or might produce a highly detailed plan of the structure. This information can be used to produce 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 mentioned above. This information will be needed so that the demolition firm can plan a demolition that is both satisfactory and secure.
Surveys will often include information about the power services that are present on a site prior to any demolition or construction work takes place. This is an essential safety aspect because any unmonitored damage to pipes and cables carrying water, gas and electricity might be very dangerous.
Another aspect of the site survey will often be an audit of resources on the site. This type of survey will be a quantity survey of the various kinds of materials that can be located on site, for example, tiles and masonry, concrete that can be used as hardcore or even timber. By taking an accurate audit of site materials the construction company can more accurately determine the need to import building materials, or they can re-use the materials on a different project.
Project managers may discover monetary benefits once topographical demolition surveys collect material quantities available on-site that may be recycled.
Importance of Site Surveys
Maybe the most important reason to undertake a topographical site survey is to ensure the health and safety of the people who will be working on the site. The industries that most commonly call for site surveys are risky enough as it is without having to be concerned about the integrity of the ground on which they are working. Taking a detailed topographical survey can help to eliminate 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. Certain things will not be evident on the surface of the site and will only be uncovered once digging or demolition has begun. By then it may be too late to fix these problems, or at best they will be costly problems to solve.
The inventory of site materials, as previously stated, can be of great benefit to a demolition or construction organisation 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 offers an opportunity to save development time and money.
Topographical surveys can also identify other areas that will be of use to the project managers. For example, if the gradients on a site would be prohibitive to specific vehicles or equipment then a new entry route or alternative machinery will have to be found. Equally, a suitable site will need to be found for the base of control operations for the project. Good site surveying can help out in these less tangible ways.
Positioning of Survey Control
During the surveying and construction stages of a construction 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 period of a project since the equipment is both expensive and sensitive.
Once the demolition has occurred and the site has been deemed safe for staff to return to it, the surveying equipment can be restored to its original position on site. This will allow for effective data gathering to take place for a post-demolition survey, and keeps a single point of contact for anybody who requires the topographical survey information. Most surveying firms will oversee this redeployment.
Due to its widespread use in the building business, concrete demolition is one fundamental method of wok for all demolition firms.
Who can Perform Site Surveys?
Because topographical site surveys can play such a critical role in the success or failure of a construction or demolition project it is critical that they are carried out carefully by the correct people. There are different divisions of site surveying and each one will have specific certificates associated with it. Finding surveyors with these specific skills will certainly be beneficial.
When selecting a company to undertake the surveying work necessary for your project it will be wise to choose a company with a good reputation and a proven track record. Ask to see reviews of their previous work and try to obtain feedback about their performance on previous projects.
Who will use the Survey Information?
When 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 largely depend on the job roles being executed, 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, though they will particularly need to use information about the physical relief of a site before the design phase, and a site materials inventory before they can prepare the construction phase.
Demolition Experts
Demolition organisations will want to know about the interior 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 typically need to know about the fundamental structure of a building and the materials it is made out of. They will need this knowledge before demolition can take place.
Site Engineers
Construction engineers on-site will be mainly interested in the survey information about the relief and topography of the site. It is usually the case that they will need to build on a flat surface, so they will use details about the natural lay of the land to calculate what work will be needed to create a stable footing for any building. They will want this information before and in the course of the construction stage of a job.
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