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The demolition industry has a particular character for being a harsh environment in which brute force takes precedence over calculated thinking; however this image is far from appropriate. There is a substantial amount of work that goes on behind the scenes of the demolition and construction sector which is firmly rooted in the academic arena. Moreover, this unseen work is vital to the success of the more visible operations.

One part of this unnoticed work is site surveying, or more precisely pre-demolition and post-demolition topographical surveying. This type of work calls for a good balance of specific technical know-how as well as experience of the industry and a natural intuition for the complexities of the job.

Topographical Surveys

A topographical survey is a study of the actual features of a particular piece of land. The purpose of a topographical survey is to chart the naturally occurring and man-made features of a particular landscape to a high degree of precision.

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 number of factors, such as ground conditions or vegetation, and as such can be used for a number of tasks.

Common Applications for Topographical Surveys

Probably the most widely used, and most commonly recognised application for topographical surveys is cartography, or map making. Modern day maps include a great amount of detail about the landscape 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 people or companies are looking to build any kind of structure they will need to carry out extensive surveys as part of the design stage of the project. These surveys are often an important part of any application for planning permission as well.

Surveys definitely play a key safety role in primary industries like mining, or in other industries that interact with the land, such as demolition and infrastructure. Companies in these fields will use surveys to plan their projects, but also to be sure that they can ensure the safety of their workforce on site.

Types of Survey

The arena of topography addresses a large number of physical characteristics so it is important to identify what form of topographical survey is suitable for a particular situation.

“Lie of the land” Surveys

These types of topographical surveys are fashioned to create a summary of the physical characteristics of any given plot of land. Although the data gathered by the survey will be very accurate, and can be very extensive, the purpose of these surveys is to give a site summary.

These surveys will generally incorporate a boundary survey that sets out to determine 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 various gradients that exist. A survey can be customised to specification though.

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 survey is more commonly associated with the demolition sector because it can give a detailed plan of the structure to be demolished.

A building survey will probably include a measured survey, which entails creating a comprehensive plan of the exterior and interior dimensions of a structure. Depending on the requirements of the job, a measured survey could provide basic building “footprint” dimensions, or might produce a very detailed plan of the structure.

Content of a Topographical Site Survey

A survey of a demolition site will almost definitely include the information gathered by the types of boundary and building surveys mentioned above. This information will be necessary so the demolition firm can plan a demolition that is both adequate and safe. More often than not these surveys will also be legally required.

Surveys will often contain information about the power services that are present on a site prior to any demolition or construction work happens. This is an important safety aspect because any unmonitored destruction to pipes and cables carrying water, gas and electricity might be very dangerous.

Another aspect of the site survey will often be an audit of resources on the site. This type of survey will be a quantity survey of the various types of materials that can be located 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 accurately gauge the need to import building resources, or they can re-use the materials on a different project.

Contemporary construction and demolition businesses provide details on their own company website so customers can view case studies or references regarding past work.

Importance of Site Surveys

Maybe the most important reason to perform a topographical site survey is to ensure the safety of the people who will be doing work on the site. The industries that most commonly call for site surveys are risky enough as it is without having to be concerned about the condition of the ground on which they are working. Taking a comprehensive topographical survey can help to mitigate safety risks of this nature.

Another critical reason to get a proper survey done is to highlight any potential difficulties that may arise because of the physical characteristics of the area. Particular things will not be evident on the surface of the site and will only be uncovered once digging or demolition has started. By then it may be too late to deal with these problems, or at best they will be costly issues to solve.

The inventory of site materials, as previously mentioned, can be of great benefit to a demolition or construction company working on a project. Not only are construction materials themselves costly, but importing them to the site may be a very expensive task in itself. Any time that material can be reused on site offers an opportunity to save development time and funds.

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 particular vehicles or machinery then a new access route or alternative machinery will have to be found. Equally, a suitable site will need to be found for the base of control operations for the project. Good site surveying can help out in these less tangible ways.

Positioning of Survey Control

During the surveying and construction stages of a building project, the apparatus required for the physical surveying of the site and control of the survey information will often be stored on-site. This is obviously a problem when it comes to the demolition period of a project since the equipment is both costly and sensitive.

Once the demolition has taken place 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 effective data collecting to take place for a post-demolition survey, and maintains a single point of contact for anybody who needs the topographical survey information. Most surveying firms will oversee this redeployment.

Many towns and cities up and down our country need home demolition earlier than building of brand new housing estates can start.

Who can Perform Site Surveys?

Because topographical site surveys can play such a vital role in the success or failure of a building or demolition project it is vital that they are undertaken carefully by the right people. There are different divisions of site surveying and each one will have specific certificates associated with it. Getting surveyors with these specific qualifications will certainly be advantageous.

When selecting a company to undertake the surveying work necessary for your project it will be sensible to choose a business with a good reputation and a proven track record. Ask to see examples of their previous work and try to obtain feedback about their performance on previous projects. It may also be worth thinking about how a company can deliver their survey data, i.e. in 3-D models or CAD ready formats, for ease of integration with other members of the project team.

Who will use the Survey Information?

When an adequate level of information has been accumulated by a site survey it must be passed out to the appropriate personnel 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 need access to all of the information gathered by a topographical survey, though they will particularly need to use information about 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 help the smooth running of the project.

Demolition Experts

Demolition organisations will want to know about the internal and exterior properties of any building or structures that they are arranged to take down. Whilst every project will have different requirements, demolition workers will generally need to know about the fundamental structure of a building and the materials it is made out of. They will need this knowledge before demolition can take place.

Site Engineers

Construction engineers on-site will be mainly interested in the survey data about the relief and topography of the terrain. It is usually 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 structure.

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