Land surveyors do more than just tell you how big a piece of property is and taking a few pictures. In fact, land is not the only thing that they measure in their position. Land surveying albuquerque nm can include measuring almost anything including the sky, bodies of water, and land. In some cases, surveying can even include measuring ice caps and the bottom of the ocean.

The work of land surveyors doesn’t just end when they leave the field. There is an immense amount of work that they must complete in the office as well. The technology used in modern land surveying has progressed considerably and can include equipment such as theodolites, advanced GPS systems, and many different scanners that can be located on the land or in the sky.

The software that is used in the office is quite advanced as well and can make far more complicated calculations than surveyors were capable of in the past. There are many different projects that land surveyors work on that range from plotting subdivisions, major construction, mining, and even digging tunnels underground. With the variety of different types of work, their days can vary greatly. While they may spend one day in a field, they may spend the next underground followed by an air-conditioned day in the office the next.

History

Land surveying has been a part of human history for thousands of years, some of the earliest evidence of the process was dating around 3,000 years ago. When the Egyptians went about remarking the fertile land after around the Nile River, rudimentary surveying methods were used. Many of the earliest explorers of the world had backgrounds in surveying as they were extremely useful in their efforts to share information about the newly discovered land.

Surveying used an entirely different process in its early years compared to what is used now. While modern surveyors use laser measurements and GPS, the earliest surveyors would use steel bands and long chains to get an estimate of the land in question. Unfortunately, these methods weren’t as accurate as the ones that are available today.

The Importance of Surveying

Surveying doesn’t just make sure that your neighbors don’t build their fence on your property. It’s used to plan roads, utilities, mining projects, and a host of other important processes. On a construction site, surveyors are generally the first people who start working. In order to start even planning a project, the contractors, architects, and engineers involved in the project must have accurate measurements of the land that they are working with including issues that may affect the construction and stability of the planned structures.

Training Requirements

As surveying is more than simply measuring land with a tape ruler, there is a lot of education involved to become a surveyor. In general, a bachelor’s degree is required but, in some cases, the position requires a master’s degree in the subject. After graduating, surveyors must acquire different licensing to become a registered surveyor.