Construction Surveying at Mark Thomas
How do you get a design from paper to reality? There are several important steps to ensure the hard work of completing a design materializes into physical infrastructure. Before breaking ground and throughout the construction process, there is a significant amount of work done to provide and ensure an accurate layout of the design, which is known as construction surveying.
Mark Thomas has provided construction survey support for nearly a century. In 1927, Mark Thomas founded our company, offering civil engineering and land surveying services. Both disciplines have become the pillars of our success and the basis for growing disciplines across the company.
Several land surveying tasks must be completed to inform the design and before starting the construction process, which may include site investigation, boundary surveys, preliminary research of existing utilities, topographic surveys, and establishing project control and benchmarks. Once the project moves to construction, we provide construction surveying services, as detailed below.
Construction surveys refer to the responsibility of the land surveyor to provide necessary control stakes to establish lines and grades required for the completion of construction. The construction survey is performed in cooperation with the construction management team, including the Resident Engineer (RE) and/or Structures Representative. Contractors and construction crews will utilize these stakes to locate the improvements to be built.
Before the layout is set, the vertical and horizontal control used for design are verified in the field and additional control needed may be set. It is paramount for the surveyor to ensure project control is accurate and abundant throughout the project site.
As construction stages are scheduled, the RE will approve and request construction surveys as needed, identifying priorities. Several rounds of stakes are often required as construction progresses for different elements and phases. Close coordination with the RE and the Mark Thomas team is critical to keep construction on schedule and within budget.
Based on the plan set and/or calculations provided by office staff, the surveyor will set points in the ground that reflect the position and grade of the feature being constructed. These reference points (RPs) are typically a nail & shiner or wooden hub set in the ground, which will be accompanied by a wooden stake (or lath) displaying design information. The stakes typically display the RPs alignment station and offset, elevation, and the offset with cut and/or fill to the design feature being constructed.
Construction surveying requires careful attention to precision, accuracy, and conformity with existing conditions. A critical role of construction surveying is ensuring tie-in points to existing structures, roadways, and other infrastructure are realized. Monitoring and verifying the progress of construction allows engineers real-time checks on elevations and positions of infrastructure to promptly identify deviation from design and/or schedule.
Through our decades of experience providing construction surveying services, we have developed an understanding of how these construction-phase services differ from design-phase work, and the importance of closely coordinating with each project’s CM team. Our experienced survey field crews bring recognized expertise in providing accurate, timely construction surveys, ensuring construction projects are delivered on time and in accordance with the design documents.