Surveyors are needed in every part of the world, especially in developing countries, where they can make a significant impact on communities. Erik Birzulis from Landair Surveys travelled to Tanzania to volunteer with Engineering Ministries International. He conducted surveys of a remote area designated for a school, church and orphanage. According to Eric, it was a challenging assignment but completely worth it.
Read more about it here.
The architecture of the Shrine of Remembrance was originally designed with surveyors so a beam of sunlight hits the stone at 11am on 11 November each year. However, the introduction of daylight savings in Victoria in the summer of 1971 meant that the beam of light was an hour behind and would hit the outer walkway. A theatre spotlight was relied upon until in 1976, Mr. Frank Johnson – a surveyor and RMIT professor – devised an elegant and simple solution. He installed an inclined mirror on the outer walkway, which bounces sunlight up to a hole in the roof, where a horizontal mirror directs the sunlight through a hole in the ceiling and down the granite stone of remembrance.
See The Age article and video about this project.
Sydney Harbour Bridge was resurfaced in January 2012, closing it for two weeks – the longest period in its 80-year history. Roads and Maritime Services Surveyors were integral to this project; their work starting about 18 months before the resurfacing took place. They established benchmarks along the western fence and carriageway. About 2,500 core-holes were drilled, without damaging the heritage-listed concrete, in order to take observations and measurements. These observations were combined with PAVESET computer analysis, to enable surveyors to control the depths of bitumen and ensure a smooth running surface upon completion.
Researchers from Queensland University of Technology have developed a hyperspectral drone camera that can capture high resolution images of ecosystems such as coral reefs. The cameras can survey around 40ha in just 30 minutes and produce imagery so detailed that they can identify coral species, algae and sand.
One of the favourite tools of the surveyor was instrumental in the 2018 discovery of 60,000 ancient Mayan structures that experts previously hadn’t even realised existed. LiDAR technology – which stands for Light Detection and Ranging – is used to map terrain, on land as well as underwater. In this instance, its powers were turned towards unearthing the secrets of the past. Archaeologists found evidence of the ruins in Guatemala using the tech, turning what we thought we knew about the history and geography of the Mayan people on its head.
Learn more about the discovery of these ancient structures here.
The shells and tiles of the Sydney Opera House had to be sited to 3mm accuracy. This was the most challenging three dimensional structure ever built in Australia. In the mid-1960s, Sydney only had one computer – itself the size of a room – to assist with the complex spatial calculations. The surveyors were responsible for ensuring that all 10,000 tile bolts were aligned correctly so that prefabricated tiles would fit like a huge jigsaw puzzle. This was all achieved in the days before portable electronic instruments. Surveyors continue to monitor the Opera House for any signs of settling or deformation.
The Australian Defence Force have used surveyors in a range of military operations, with the most recent being the construction of a military airfield. The aim of this project was to construct an assault landing zone capable of landing military aircrafts in the Northern Territory. The project used the latest GPS equipment to support the design and construction of the airstrip.
Car manufacturers need to calibrate the speedometers in all new vehicles to make sure they are travelling at the identified speed. Surveyors determine the speed by using high-tech equipment and legal principles in measurement standards to accurately determine speed and distance.
The ‘Super Dome’ over the greens of the Mt Barker Bowling Club SA is a 40m x 40m domed structure consisting of 5m sections of steel each interconnected to create the domed shape once tensioned. The surveyor’s first task in the process was to set out each intersection on the bowling green itself to a high accuracy. This required surveyors to lay the curved surface coordinates of the dome on the flat plane of the bowling green. Much like cartographers do when reflecting the curved earth surface on a flat piece of paper. The “jigsaw puzzle” of pieces was then laid flat on the green in line with grid of marks setout earlier before surveyors put it under tension.
During almost all phases, construction surveyors have a very hands-on job in obtaining and using data. One example was the Port River Expressway Project in Port Adelaide, which involved complex bascule and opening bridges. The structures had to be built from both sides of the bank and aligned to give perfect closure; this was especially important for the railway bascule bridge.
Located in North Eastern South Australia and South Western Queensland, the Cooper Basin is the largest onshore gas reserve in Australia. Surveyors play a key role in the extraction and refinement of oil and gas resources in the Cooper Basin. Working in conjunction with geologists, they locate underground reservoirs of oil and gas. They’re then also responsible for positioning drilling rigs in order to extract these reserves. Surveyors are then responsible for selecting the optimal route for a pipeline through the sensitive desert environment in order to transport this oil back to a processing and export facility, which can be hundreds of kilometres away.
The success of the Mawson Lakes residential and commercial sectors sets a bench mark in the Australian Land Development Industry. Surveyors have been one of the key consultants in creating the new suburb, offering land tenure advice as well as cadastral, engineering and construction surveys. They have also been involved in dealing with sensitive issues of cultural heritage in the built form and Aboriginal sites of significance, the protection of significant trees and the creation of biodiversity corridors including the formation of wetlands.
The Gippsland Water Factory is a waste treatment and recycling system located in the Gippsland region in Victoria. As a leader in sustainability and innovation, it will be the first waste water treatment plant in Australia to incorporate recycling at the start, rather than add it to the existing infrastructure. The system will treat up to 35 million litres of domestic and industrial waste water daily. On completion of the first stage of the project, the Gippsland Water Factory will produce up to eight million litres of high quality recycled water for industrial use each day.
