I totally agree with that.
But John was asking about back sight heights, point numbers, ect. Not needed after completing the work.
I keep my looseleafs in the folder and will pull them out when revisiting that area and add to them as needed.
@mike-marks My take is that you rarely need to go back to your field books if your survey was accurate. A field book will record your data whether it's right or wrong. If your survey is right, then a field check today will also show results that are the same if not close to your reported survey. I would also note that a lot of errors occurred during the pre-data collector era attributed to manual recording.
I've digitized most records, but I still keep notes -- sparse as they may be -- in bound field books.?ÿ Aside from the odd sketch (maybe 1 job out of 5 requires one), these days they consist mostly of HIs and monument descriptions.?ÿ 27 years in business and I'm on field book 32.
I'm sitting on about 25 years worth of field books, all have been scanned but all 80 plus volumes only take up a shelf within reach of my desk. The files associated with them, the handwritten point numbers on old plats, quick calculation, odd correspondence and whatever else seemed important at the time take up a small room full of file cabinets. To be able to grab a file with the plats and notes from a job 15 years ago to use on a current job is priceless to me. I tried scanning all that stuff but it just lost a lot of practical value in translation. A couple weeks ago a job was saved in short order because a missing section corner had been tied by my predecessor two decades ago and the original files and notes were in my possession. Some PDFs floating around the cloud or on a server? meh. The original notes and sketches, printed crd file and annotated plats, priceless.
scan em, pitch em.
one job, 24+ field books, we had no where to keep the things, they had to go. The shed some were in was being raised so out they went. ?ÿ
They are over 200 pages each so 5000 pages.?ÿ
Also they are easy to find, a few clicks through file explorer.
There, their, they're Moe. Just how high did they "raise" that shed? 😛
We keep everything digitally and only digitally.
I wonder why I should keep notes of setups and backsights and pointnrs. We doublecheck in the field before we start collecting points. Our Trimble Access gives us the hor & vert deltas between setup and backsight, if they match we start collecting, if not we check what's?ÿ wrong.
My datacollector won't make mistakes when keeping track of pointnrs, I will when I write them down. And our Field To Finish no longer needs pointnrs.
We still have sketches with notes of manhole. We scan them, then open the scans to verify if everything is on it, sometimes crews write on the very edge of the paper and you have to make 2 scans. If you don't verify you will loose data. Scanning is done immediatily when at the office, or on the road by taking pictures with the Ipad.?ÿ
Give your files a clear name, you do not want to open 30 scans to find what you need.
Once all is verified get rid of your paperwork, and access all your notes from the cloud, where ever you are.
I never had to explain something to court, but the electronic fieldbook keeps very good track of when and where something was measured.
?ÿ
I am sitting on 345 Rite in the Rain books neatly filed in a bookcase that I look at everyday. They remind me of those who I've worked with, worked for and the trials and tribulations associated with this profession.?ÿ For instance May 19, 1980 the day after Mt. St. Helens blew her top I was in Section 18-26-3 working a control traverse with a Zeiss TH-43 and an Auto Ranger. It was cloudy and 60 degrees that day. Book 116.
I've only been a courtroom professionally twice. Once on the stand I was asked a question that I asked to look in my field book for reference and was granted that permission. The Judge, I forget his name, asked if he could look at said field book so I handed it to him. I will never forget that he held that book like it was a Bible, closed his eyes for a moment and handed it back without any words or even opening it.?ÿ?ÿ
Our profession is steeped in tradition, I will keep the yellow books and probably line my casket with them.?ÿ
?ÿ
The Engineer/Attorney that told me; The least amount of information (on a plan), the better. Also told me; The guy with the biggest file, wins. He was also in charge of the legal department.
Years ago in a different lifetime I witnessed a brawl at the back of a pub we were staying at when we were doing a month's survey and geotech field work. Anyway, the Police arrived, and faced with 2 against about 30, one of them fired a warning shot over the crowd, then the crowd swarmed the police and gave them beating and stole their pistols. A year later I'm in court as a Crown witness, and after giving my name and profession etc the prosecution is showing photos of this and that, including a view of the carpark where the brawl took place. They asked me if that was the view I had, and I replied "yes, but from the other direction" which threw the prosecution, and the Judge intervened and said "You have to remember, he's an engineer". Everyone, except me and the defendant, had a good chuckle.
I've heard those many times over the years, and the pinnacle would be to produce a drawing, blank, with one note: "All details omitted for clarity".
My favorite excuse: The plans were approved by (insert scapegoat here), it's their problem, not mine.
I will keep the yellow books
Good
?ÿprobably line my casket with them.?ÿ
Wouldn't they do someone else more good?
