Land Surveyor Forum

Replies

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  Matt Harnett December 14, 2011 at 12:33pm

  I've had to absorb abusive language (directed directly at me and my incompetence) from the very man who hired me.  Every filthy word you can think of!  I've walked off and he calls to apologize.  I return.  He does it again.  This went on until he had expended the retainer given to us to start the project.  When his money ran out, I gave him everything I had as far as paperwork and information.  I said, "You don't owe me anything and my time here is expired.  If you want to abuse another surveyor, there are plenty of others in the phonebook."

  I've been in manholes, fought with traffic shooting centerline, ran from dogs, also from people with guns.  My partner found a perculation hole by stepping in it...all the way to the knee (and yes it was full of water).  Had a dog wrap his chain around my transit and pull it down and drag it some distance ($300 repair bill). 

  Once, a woman came out and said, "You're not running this line."  She proceeded to get a lawn chair and set down exactly on the line.  We went around her by triangulation.  LOL. 

  My brother and I were also given permission to kill as many groundhogs as we could on a farm. 

  There are a million stories of what happens in the field aside from actual surveying.  I always find them interesting.
• Land Surveyor

  Scott D. Warner, PLS May 6, 2011 at 8:21pm

  I hope you do not go down into a "sanitary sewer manhole" without proper protection. Those are the stinky holes in the ground that you can kill yourself in by being exposed to Sulfur Dioxide and Methane. I have gone deep into many storm-water manholes without issue, but I have not and will not ever delve into a stinky hole in the street.
  I do, however, measure the depth of stinky "sanitary" manholes using a level rod, and of course I get an elevation on the lid or rim of the structure so that the Civil Engineer will know how deep the pipes are compared to the top. I don't know how many manhole lids I have flipped open. (perhaps several hundred). I have monumented, however, many thousands of property corners.
  These are all duties of a Land Surveyor.
  Sewers have little to do with boundary work, but if a Land Surveyor is working for a company that employs Civil Engineers, you should expect to be getting data on sewers.
  The great thing about working for a company that does both Land Surveying and Civil Engineering is that one profession feeds off of the other. Engineering jobs generate Surveying jobs and vice versa.
• Land Surveyor

  DEWARD BOWLES February 9, 2011 at 9:55am

  Being a good Land Surveyor involves being proficient with a plethora of skills not directly related to a Land Survey. Even digging a nice plug out of some sod in someone's yard and being able to replace it without leaving any signs it was done is a valuable skill when it comes to urban Land Surveying. Needed skills can range from something as mundane as what I mentioned before to being able to identify species of trees or know how to estimate the age of evidence found like barbed wire types and makes. It is extremely difficult to become completely familiar with every aspect of Land Surveying because of the diversity of this profession. I for example have a great knowledge of the Public Land System but I would never practice Land Surveying in that system without more experience at it. The special knowledge this requires is something I do not feel I possess even though I consider myself more knowledgeable than any Lawyer on this subject.