Construction academy
What is a survey in construction?
Construction surveying establishes the precise horizontal and vertical positions that guide grading, structure placement, and utility installation. On heavy civil projects, surveyors stake the alignment, set grade controls, verify as-built conditions, and provide the field crew with the physical reference points they need to build to plan.
Survey tools used on heavy civil projects
- GPS rover (GNSS RTK) — A handheld or pole-mounted GNSS receiver that communicates with a base station or network to achieve centimeter-level accuracy in real time. Used for staking, locating, and as-built verification across large areas.
- Total station — An optical-electronic instrument that measures angles and distances from a fixed control point. Used for precise work where GPS signal is obstructed — under bridges, in tunnels, or near structures.
- Drone photogrammetry — A UAV equipped with a camera and GPS captures overlapping images of the project site. Software stitches the images into a georeferenced point cloud or orthophoto used for earthwork quantity calculations and progress documentation.
- Construction staking — Physical stakes, hubs, and lath placed in the ground by the surveyor to mark alignment, grade, and offset positions for the field crew. Stakes are referenced to stationing and offset from the design centerline.
Stationing in construction
Heavy civil projects use stationing to describe positions along a roadway or utility alignment. One station equals 100 feet. Station 10+50 means 1,050 feet from the project origin. Distances are expressed in decimal feet — not feet and inches. A tenth of a foot (0.1 ft) is about 1.2 inches.
What is a survey request?
A survey request is a formal field-initiated request for the survey crew to provide staking or verification at a specific location. The foreman identifies where stakes are needed — a culvert end, a grade break, a curb return — and submits the request so the survey crew can schedule and prioritize the work.