Even though it's not my favorite kind of surveying. I get my buddy Paul, that I've worked with for about 25 years and likes construction layout, make him chief for a day and get out and do it.
This job is a Coast Guard hanger building that I did the pre-design topo for back in Feb. The site super asked if I wanted to do layout and respectfully declined, then he asked if I'd do quality control on the layout if he wanted an independent verification, "Sure, I'll be happy to do that!"
Here's Paul, yakking on the phone...Some of you western guys might have worked with him inthe early 80's. He was with the BLM and then an engineering firm in Reno. Paul Bradford...
I had established a nice baseline on the tarmac off the main column lines, then set iron pins at offsets to the ends and rear.
Of course, all the pins were wiped out, even though I put them right where the Super wanted them!
There was a nice stand of trees right where all that re-bar is sticking up!
Over all, I'd prefer the Oyster Flats like yesterday!!!
I do appreciate being part of the building process,
doing the pre-design topo, then checking what the contractor did stake, afterwards the as-built.
Oh and I like the variation,
2 days of topo this week, 2 construction sites - staking about 80 lots on one and checking staked curbs on the other.
Today 4 hours boundary and finished underground for a sewage survey ...
time flies when you're having fun.
up to next week.
Was the construction layout surveyors work up to standard ?
you know, that's an interesting question. Somewhere inbetween my layout of the main column lines the building has apparently twisted. The NW corner was good, but thne stuff started twisting to the south by a half foot.
I spoke with the surveyor doing the concrete layout and he said that he was just laying out coords that his boss gave him. Then the Super wanted to know how things checked and he said the Civil Eng had given these "new" coordinates (different than the ones I layed out originally) and he wanted to know if those checked with what was layed out on the ground (which they did).
So, using my coord base they had shifted the building, only using my baseline once and that was to radially spray in the anchor bolts locations... I have to scribble up a report on tuesday explaining this.....
I'm so used to baseline control for big building layout that radially staking this many column line intersections kind of makes me nervous...Nothing now fits or is at right angles to the baseline, but it's OK to itself.
Welcome to fast track job management, whereby they literally make it up as they go along.
It's every company for themselves from day one, and the involvement of the general contractor in organizing logistics makes or breaks the project. Some do it very well, understand the time constraints for layout and the necessity of maintaining control, others not so much.
I set as much off site control as I feel necessary from provided primary control, so when everything is knocked out, as is inevitable if they are doing site work at the same time, I can bring it back in from multiple points.
Radial layout has been the standard (at least for me) for the past 15 years. I remember the days of yesteryear when we maintained baselines, today with multiple trades occupying the same space at the same time that is impossible. Yesterday I counted 7 robots and 3 GPS RTK setups all going at the same time, as well as all the machine control on the equipment, coordinate location is pretty much SOP these days and radial layout is the standard as well.
The big deal to me is always what documents control. If they have dimensioned drawings, I generate my own coords, submit to the GC for review (which they never want but get anyway with multiple cc's to everyone involved) and rock on.
I've only had one project where I was provided digital files of coordinates, accompanied with a stamped and sealed letter identifying these as controlling for construction.
I refuse to generate coords from a .dwg, too many errors from viable hard copies to trust.
