What exactly DO land surveyors do?
Asked by
Mr_M (
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September 4th, 2008
Those guys you always see on the street; one has a thing that looks like a telescope and the other guy has something that looks like a ruler. What are they doing and why do they do it?
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10 Answers
They plot precise property boundary lines, and assist in the making of maps.
They also take 2-hour lunch breaks and date pretty flaggers.
September 4, 2008, 2:12 PM EDT
my son was land surveyor and while he never had the time for long lunches he did have to schlep through swamp land an mud in all sorts of adverse conditions to do the job.
Of course, the two most famous surveyors are Mason and Dixon (of the Mason-Dixon line). You may find this article about their contributions to the young U.S. interesting. I did.
I always thought that the most famous surveyors were Lewis & Clark.
Shows how much I know!
September 4, 2008, 3:16 PM EDT
Explorers, yes. Cartographers, yes. But none of them were formally trained surveyors, and it was William Clark who did most of the mapmaking.
So what “triggers” the coming out of a surveyor?
And what’s the guy with the telescope reading?
“the guy with the telescope”, as you put it, is lining up a point in his sights. Steelemarket’s explaination on Andrew’s Q is a good explaination. As to “what “triggers” the coming out of a surveyor?”, it can be a number of things, it can be a construction project, it can be road work, it can be underground mining (so they can coordinate where they are at above ground in relation to where they are at below ground), it can be laying pipes or lines, it just depends on the project.
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