Site Surveying in the Demolition Industry
The demolition industry has a particular character for being a tough atmosphere in which brute force takes priority over calculated thinking; however this image is far from appropriate. There is a huge amount of work that happens behind the scenes of the demolition and construction industry that is firmly rooted in the academic world. Moreover, this unseen work is essential 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 calls for a great 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 study of the actual features of a particular plot of land. The purpose of a topographical survey is to chart the naturally occurring and man-made traits of a specific landscape to a high degree of accuracy. Whilst topography itself may refer to the surface of any object, it is more commonly associated with the surface of the planet.
Topographical surveys can be carried out on a very broad range of environments, from open countryside to urban developments and across a variety of elevations and land surfaces. Surveys can be developed to take into account a great many factors, such as ground conditions or vegetation, and as such can be used for a number of tasks. A few of the more common uses are outlined below.
Common Applications for Topographical Surveys
Probably the most widely used, and most generally recognised application for topographical surveys is cartography, or map making. Modern day maps include a great amount of detail about the terrain they relate to, including waterways, reliefs and ground surface, all of which will have been obtained via a topographical survey.
Topographical surveys also have a major role to play in the construction industry. When individuals or organisations are looking to construct any kind of structure they will need to perform extensive surveys as part of the design phase of the project.
Surveys definitely play a key safety role in primary industries such as mining, or in other industrial sectors that interact with the terrain, such as demolition and infrastructure. Companies in these fields will use surveys to plan their projects, but also to make sure that they can ensure the safety of their workforce on site. As such, topographical surveys are often a legal prerequisite for these types of projects.
Types of Survey
The world of topography addresses a large number of physical characteristics so it is important to determine what form of topographical survey is appropriate for a particular scenario.
“Lie of the land” Surveys
These types of topographical surveys are designed to create an overview of the physical characteristics of any given plot of land. Although the information collected by the survey will be extremely accurate, and may be very extensive, the objective of these surveys is to give a site summary.
These surveys will usually incorporate a boundary survey that sets out to define the extent of the site and highlight 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 terrain and the numerous gradients that exist.
Building Surveys
Building surveys are more typically concerned with man-made constructions on a site, including the surveying of special machines and even infrastructure features. This type of study is more regularly associated with the demolition industry because it can give a detailed plan of the structure 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 exterior and interior proportions of a building. Depending on the requirements of the project, a measured survey might provide basic 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 always include the information gathered by the types of boundary and building surveys described above. This information will be necessary so the demolition company can plan a demolition that is both satisfactory and safe. Often these surveys will also be legally required.
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 important safety factor because any unmonitored destruction to pipes and cables carrying water, gas and electricity could be very dangerous.
Another aspect of the site study will often be an audit of resources on the site. This type of study will be a quantity survey of the various sorts of materials that can be found on site, for example, tiles and masonry, concrete that can be utilised as hardcore or even wood. By taking an accurate audit of site materials the construction company can more precisely determine the need to import building resources, or they can re-use the materials on a different project.
Undertaking a rigorous , complete house demolition survey would ensure the health and safety of residents in the immediate locality of the work site.
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 industrial sectors that most commonly call for site surveys are dangerous enough as it is without having to be concerned about the condition of the ground on which they are working.
Another critical reason to get a suitable survey done is to identify any potential problems that may arise because of the physical characteristics of the area. Certain things may 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 deal with these problems, or at best they will be expensive issues to solve.
The inventory of site supplies, as previously mentioned, can be of great value to a demolition or construction organisation working on a project. Not only are construction materials themselves expensive, but transporting 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.
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 machinery then a new access route or alternative equipment will have to be found.
Positioning of Survey Control
During the surveying and construction phases 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 machinery is both costly and sensitive. It is therefore wise 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 initial position on site. This will allow for efficient data collecting to take place for a post-demolition study, and maintains a single point of contact for anyone who needs the topographical survey information. Most surveying companies will oversee this redeployment.
The types of corporations which call for plant demolition will have usually been with demolition firms on projects in the past.
Who can Perform Site Surveys?
Since topographical site surveys can play such a vital role in the success or failure of a building or demolition project it is critical that they are undertaken thoroughly by the right people. There are different divisions of site surveying and each one will have specific qualifications associated with it. Finding surveyors with these specific skills 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 obtain feedback about their overall performance on past projects.
Who will use the Survey Information?
Once an adequate level of information has been gathered by a site survey it must be handed out to the appropriate people on-site. Who gets what pieces of information will mostly 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 gathered by a topographical survey, although they will particularly need to use information regarding the physical relief of a site before the design phase, and a site materials record before they can prepare the construction phase. The more data that can be made available to project planners will assist the smooth running of the project.
Demolition Experts
Demolition companies will want to know about the internal and exterior characteristics of any building or structures that they are set to take down. Whilst every project 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.
Site Engineers
Construction engineers on-site will be mainly interested in the survey statistics about the relief and topography of the terrain. It is normally 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 stable footing for any building.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.