Is surveying a 'dangerous' job?

NJIT Trains Students To That Fact

Student fieldwork occurs on the sidewalks surrounding the Newark, New Jersey campus. More annoying than the threats are the constant requests for spare change so someone can buy a cup of coffee?

A firm I worked at did a few surveys in Newark. One day I did nothing but stand alongside the robot. That firm had a robot stolen in Camden. I found it on eBay a few days later at a pawn shop in Philadelphia. I also worked on a non robotic survey in Newark a few blocks South of the NJIT campus. The business owner hired an off duty cop to follow us round all day. Probably more hazardous than violence was the necessity to clean out the monument boxes in the streets. Most had missing lids and were filled with used syringes, prophylactics and what else.

Most hazardous is surveying along the Interstate traveled way.

In the Poconos I was stopped along the road by a high school girl with an SKS and she was covered by her father with a rifle a the window. He told the State Police we were sneaking around. Humh? we were wearing blaze orange. The pipes we found and lathed up were gone by the time we finished the survey and drove off. Big note on that survey.

Paul in PA

NJIT Trains Students To That Fact

Oh I know all about NJIT! I spent my share of time there doing exactly that. Since I have lived in the north and south parts of the Garden State I have had the pleasure of surveying in Paterson, Newark, Trenton, and Camden among others. I believe Camden to be the worst overall, but fortunately the neighborhoods I worked in were not terrible.

The worst places I had to work were definitely in Trenton when a friend first went out on his own and I helped him on the weekends. He had landed a contract to do dozens upon dozens of Trenton Housing Authority surveys (housing projects). I guess he was desperate for work and there probably wasn't much competition to get that job. I remember it was about 12°F one Sunday and we knocked out a ton of the surveys because we were the only people outside.

I did get a lot of experience from that job. These projects are row houses for those unfamiliar with the city. There really wasn't any control as we would think of it, but the deeds were all referenced from the Rights-of-Way with ties to other Rights-of-Way. Amazingly, splitting the curbs and bucking into building lines and partition wall lines worked quite well. We would set cross-cuts at 5'offsets as most of the buildings were right on the R/W line. Then we would take lunch when the various residents began threatening to shoot one another over drug money.

Apparently surveying used to be considered dangerous on a different level. From the 1850-1920 cigarette tobacco insert cards from the W. Duke Co.. series “50 Scenes of Perilous Occupations”:

Surveying in the mountains is rated right between knife throwing in the circus and Indian scout.

Detail

Back of card

Wow! That's pretty cool!

Well, my family has 3 of those covered.

Grandpa trained and rode horses in the Turtle Assoc. and Grandma was a trick rider.
Dad is a retired mountain surveyor.

Yes, it is dangerous a lot of the time. My biggest fear is the people driving distracted. Two weeks ago I had two things to do at a major intersection here in Tucson. One was the shot on the bench mark at the corner, and that was easy enough. I then assembled the traffic cones, disposable latex gloves, hammer, and screwdriver to get the brass cap in the handwell in the middle of the intersection. A man asked me what I was doing and somewhat flippantly I said, "Trying not to get run over." As I said that we heard the crash behind us and saw the cars skidding sideways. That would have been me skidding with them if I had been out there.

My wife and I always hug goodbye as I leave. You never know.

While in the middle of an intersection in heavy traffic (when they're at least not speeding) I had a police cruiser pull up alongside me and the driver said "You guys must be crazy working out here! It's dangerous!"
I replied, "At least nobody's shooting at me!"

> Well, my family has 3 of those covered.
>
> Grandpa trained and rode horses in the Turtle Assoc. and Grandma was a trick rider.
> Dad is a retired mountain surveyor.

Uncle trained horses, Dad was a jockey when young and later rode saddle broncs, barebacks and bulls in the RCA. He was also a surveyor as am I. I also used to handle high explosives in the field on a seismograph party, rode bulls as a teenager and was a LEO in Texas.

My family seems to gravitate to "Dangerous" jobs.

B-)

> While in the middle of an intersection in heavy traffic (when they're at least not speeding) I had a police cruiser pull up alongside me and the driver said "You guys must be crazy working out here! It's dangerous!"
> I replied, "At least nobody's shooting at me!"

Dave,

BTDT, both professions.
B-)

I tell students that we have one of the only jobs where firemen wave at US when they go by.

> > Well, my family has 3 of those covered.
> >
> > Grandpa trained and rode horses in the Turtle Assoc. and Grandma was a trick rider.
> > Dad is a retired mountain surveyor.
>
> Uncle trained horses, Dad was a jockey when young and later rode saddle broncs, barebacks and bulls in the RCA. He was also a surveyor as am I. I also used to handle high explosives in the field on a seismograph party, rode bulls as a teenager and was a LEO in Texas.
>
> My family seems to gravitate to "Dangerous" jobs.
>
> B-)

Grandpa wasn't a "horse trainer" in today's definition. He got paid to break horses, but also rode broncs, bulls, wrestled steers, and roped (both team roping and calf). I guess you would call that "All Around". It WAS dangerous - he woke up on the coroner's table after being given up for dead. I guess a swift kick to the head will do that to anybody.

Can't say I've actually gotten paid to handle explosives....I too gravitate towards danger.

We have eaten in plenty of places where consumption of food prepared there clearly falls into the "dangerous" category. Does that count?

Nonhuman animals of "dangerous" potential are routinely encountered by a large percentage of surveyors, frequently armed with nothing more threatening than a data collector. I can hear it now, "But, Boss, I swear that spider was 15 inches across and stood four inches high and was giving me the evil eye just before it leaped at me."

"the suspect demanded his cellphone and told him to get on the ground. The victim complied but while he was on the ground he took out his own gun and shot the would-be robber"

Maybe that passes in the wild west. In many areas, you would be in prison, or perhaps paying for the robber's hospitalization and disability for life if he lived. In such jurisdictions, robbery is not sufficient cause for using deadly force, and you will have to "prove" that you were likely to be shot by him even after complying.

You have to ask yourself whether you are more afraid that he will shoot you after you comply, that you'll miss and make him shoot, or if you might suffer the above consequences.

NM, fat fingers...

Bill,

If that happened in most of the states where I have lived your scenario would have many people wondering what you were doing outside a mental institution.

AS IT SHOULD DO.B-)