Journey of a Survey Technician…
Month one
“It’s hard to imagine that I really became a surveyor in New Zealand. I’m incredibly proud and fortunate to be a part of Definition Surveying Ltd. I’m proud to work alongside a team of experienced surveyors, and I’m fortunate to be one of them. ”
Key lessons learnt on the job this month
Time seems to fly by when you're learning. In this past month, I've been involved in two projects that have left a deep impression on me. The first project was installing control that will be used for the construction of a wind farm. To be honest, I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to participate in such a large project right after starting my job. This means there's a lot of work to do. I can learn a lot from it. In this project, the initial work involved measuring LINZ marks and building a control network of new marks that will be used in the next stages of the project.
In actual practice, there are multiple techniques involved in every step. These are the experiences that David has accumulated over his long career: Firstly, pay attention to the safety at work. He instructed me not to rush to think about how to carry out the work when I arrive at the site, but to first observe the working environment, look for Site Hazard Board, self-check PPE, identify risks, and develop protective measures, etc. It is the greatest success to be able to go home safely every day.
Second, you must ensure the quality of your work. For example, to improve the accuracy of data in the work, you should take multiple measurements of each measuring point and check the data promptly. When it is windy on the mountain, the tape measure used to measure the heights can be easily bent by the strong wind, causing the measurement error result to be too large. At this time, the two people should work together to reduce the measurement error.
Finally, pay attention to work efficiency. Before entering the field, make a work plan, determine where to build the Base station, plan the order in which the marks will be measured, and choose an appropriate route while ensuring safety. He also taught me his tricks for setting up the base station using a Tripod, and it's really fast. These are all methods to reduce time loss. Now, when I see the wind turbine generator on the mountain, I feel a sense of intimacy. This is the starting point of my work in the field of surveying.
The second project was a subdivision project in a residential area. This project is not large, but it was my independent trip to practice how to set up a job with base station and rover RTK, and how to connect them with TSC7 to establish a relationship and measure the marks on site. Then, the measurement results were imported into Trimble Business Centre (TBC) for data analysis, adjustment and processing.
I'm very grateful to David for training me in this way. This allows me to think independently about the content, operation methods, and processes of the work. He then points out the shortcomings and areas for improvement in my work based on the data results. This makes a deeper impression on me.
Of course, as a new employee, there are bound to be some mistakes in the work. For example, after setting up the equipment, I couldn't find the radio signal. The measurement position error is large. These shortcomings have shown me what I should pay special attention to in my future work. I am also very grateful to David and the company for their care and tolerance for me to learn.
Furthermore, there was a Blue Mountain College (BMC) student Daniel who came to the office for some work experience to learn about what a surveyor does. David explained this project and showed us 12D software that is used to do the calculations for the project. He introduced in detail what units of measurement were used in old survey plans. This included what a surveyor’s chain was. Previously Surveyors used a chain to measure distances which would have been a lot harder than now when we can use GPS. A chain was made up of 100 links which is 20.12m. Interestingly this is the width of most roads.
After the chain, it became common to use a steel band and Theodolite to measure bearing and distances. We now use an Electronic Distance Measurer (EDM) which is a Total Station, or we can use GPS depending on the accuracy requirements.
David told us how to convert the unit of links to meters. The conversion is 0.201168 links to metres.
He also explained what IMU stands for when asked by Daniel when he saw on the TSC7 (controller). IMU stands for Inertial Measurement Unit, it is the technology in the Trimble R12i that means that measurements can be made with the pole on an angle. Previously all GPS units would need to be held vertically to get an accurate shot on a mark.
Things I’ve found interesting or surprised me during the first month as a surveying technician?
The locations for surveying work are varied: sometimes on a mountain, sometimes on a highway, and sometimes in the city. When carrying survey equipment from one point to another, it feels like measuring the site with our footsteps. Using the survey equipment to read the data of this piece of land is akin to comprehensively understanding its story and then telling it to our clients. I can proudly say that this is about deeply understanding the land we live on with our equipment. Every time I think about this, my heart fills with immense excitement.
“Another feeling I have is that, although we can use navigation to find survey marks, the form of these marks can vary, making them not always easy to find. Sometimes they are hidden in a small pit on the road, sometimes you need to dig through the soil to find them. It's like a treasure hunt, and when you finally discover it, it brings great joy. I'm really amazed at how interesting my work is. This makes me love my job even more.”