I see a lot of field note sketch's on various survey web sites and many asking for review and critique. Keep in mind that those notes may end up in a court of law someday, and as such may be record in a case. Although some of the methods in the Pafford's Book of survey notekeeping are obsolete, it still is a great reference book on notekeeping in the field. It is still available at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Survey.../dp/0471657514
Survey Field notes.
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hellsangle
- Posts: 618
- Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:31 am
- Location: Sonoma, CA
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Re: Survey Field notes.
Yes, Mike . . . it's the bible on notekeeping.
And the younger "button pushers" don't seem to take written notes. Seems they like digital notes.
But how do you sketch a natural backsight into a data-collector to be used years later?
I had a boundary retracement, in Marin County, where we found a 1940s point that took a "natural" to a point on one of the towers on the Golden Gate Bridge. If we didn't have The "Sketch" - there would be no way to "describe" exactly "where" on that tower that they back-sighted. (In Marin County, Gardner Lookout, atop Mt. Tamalpais, is a great "natural"!)
Besides . . . boundary surveys are not speedy and ministerial like topos. They are done thoughtfully, carefully and without hurry. So why not take written notes? Doubled angles (and use a plumb bob!). Doubled distances (staff rotated 180 to confirm the bubble is not outta whack), and sketch your control and naturals. And . . . having high quality cameras on the cell phones - photograph your boundary evidence and sometimes - control.
(Coincidentally, we have a new job (retracement) . . . where we have control and a natural, right in front of our new client's parcel, from six years ago! It might be a snap if our control is still there. We might actually make some money . . . all because of the "natural" and the SKETCH in the field notes.)
Pafford should be a reference book in every surveyor's library!
And thanks for the Pafford "plug", Mike!
Have a great week! Going to be a hot one today in Sonoma.
Crazy Phil
And the younger "button pushers" don't seem to take written notes. Seems they like digital notes.
But how do you sketch a natural backsight into a data-collector to be used years later?
I had a boundary retracement, in Marin County, where we found a 1940s point that took a "natural" to a point on one of the towers on the Golden Gate Bridge. If we didn't have The "Sketch" - there would be no way to "describe" exactly "where" on that tower that they back-sighted. (In Marin County, Gardner Lookout, atop Mt. Tamalpais, is a great "natural"!)
Besides . . . boundary surveys are not speedy and ministerial like topos. They are done thoughtfully, carefully and without hurry. So why not take written notes? Doubled angles (and use a plumb bob!). Doubled distances (staff rotated 180 to confirm the bubble is not outta whack), and sketch your control and naturals. And . . . having high quality cameras on the cell phones - photograph your boundary evidence and sometimes - control.
(Coincidentally, we have a new job (retracement) . . . where we have control and a natural, right in front of our new client's parcel, from six years ago! It might be a snap if our control is still there. We might actually make some money . . . all because of the "natural" and the SKETCH in the field notes.)
Pafford should be a reference book in every surveyor's library!
And thanks for the Pafford "plug", Mike!
Have a great week! Going to be a hot one today in Sonoma.
Crazy Phil
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pls5528
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:42 pm
Re: Survey Field notes.
I think I spent my most recent thirty years managing survey departments perhaps the most testing time I had, in that that was during the most notable transition of technology which changed the way the field crews did things. I stood my ground as far as field notes were concerned and managed a taught the fundamentals. It was met with resistance mostly because some had worked for others, which did it this way or that way. I even went so far as to create simple contour sheets with elevations on a scaled grid and mad them sketch in the contours by hand by interpolation. That truly created an understanding of what the create dtm button was doing in cad? Most of the ones that I trained will tell you, "I was the guy that made them a surveyor that they are today", but, perhaps not the nicest? My mood swings may have been caused by my ulcers kicking in from having to deal with them? Thank you for your kind words Phil.