The challenge; its 20m up in the air, access is impossible and our client wants it positioned in 3D to the mm! New Zealand Transport Agency came directly to BCL for a solution. Our team delivered.
Utilising our 1” Leica TS15 (the only one in New Zealand) our team took a series of high accuracy remote measurements to the hanging structure. This in turn allowed us to create a 3D digital model and extract various datasets to fulfil our client’s requirements.
A clever solution delivered on time and on budget.
When the Transfield Services survey team recently asked us whether we could remotely survey the rock face our answer was yes. This was an ideal job for our long range (1km) reflectorless theodilite. We dispatched our team to install site control, peg legal boundaries and then survey the rock face. We utilised the scan function on the robotic Leica TS15 and had the faces surveyed to the required specifications without the need to send an assistant onto the unstable and steep face. The final information was delivered in a surveyor friendly format for inclusion in existing datasets.
BCL takes centre stage…and the stalls, circle, balcony, lighting bridges…no we haven’t formed our own thespian touring party rather we are surveying the ASB Theatre to help the design team with the upcoming fit-out. It has taken a huge effort by our surveyors over the Christmas break however this has yielded a highly accurate 3D model of the theatre.
So take a bow Michael and Andrew you guys have done a fantastic job.
Never heard of GNSS, well you will need to get used to this new acronym as it is the new name for GPS. The American GPS is a part of the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), the Russians have a system called Glonass. The Europeans are developing Galileo and the Japanese, Chinese and Indians are all developing GNSS.
Our Leica Viva system will be compatible with all of these systems meaning more accuracy and more productivity. So our ‘GPS’ surveys are now actually ‘GNSS’, utilising GPS and Glonass systems in a combined GNSS.
When working with maximum height covenants, flood levels or other vertical datums be very careful to check that your topographical survey is in terms of the datum.
It is common for covenants to be in terms of a local datum or even site datum with no reference to Lands and Survey Datum 1946 (LINZ Datum).
If height datums are critical to your design then consult with your surveyor.
We are often asked what points (on a building etc) we actually survey; and whilst this may seem to be a trivial matter experience has told us that ‘the devil is in the detail’ and so I will, over the next few updates, outline the critical features that we survey.
Gutters; we endeavour to always survey the top lip of the gutter using our laser theodolites as shown in the photo below left. We have found that this can be consistently and accurately surveyed without the need for offset measurements etc that can introduce errors.
BCL have been pushing for the ALGGi GIS data to be made available to the public for over 12 months, after all we have all paid for it! Finally it has arrived.
A word of warning, this is a fantastic scoping tool but should not be used for design purposes! The contour height data is unreliable and it is normal to have heights out by a half a metre or more!! Use it to scope out the job then call in the surveyors for a detailed topographical survey before design.
Great Barrier, Rakino and Waiheke Islands have all been visited by our teams over the last few months. We love working on the Islands! Whether it’s a fishing lodge on a rocky islet, a bach on Medlands or a bush hideaway we are your team.
Building Corners; we endeavour to always survey the physical extreme of the building using our laser theodolites as shown in the photo below. We have found that this can be consistently and accurately surveyed without the need for offset measurements etc that can introduce errors. It is critical that allowance is made for the cladding (and as in this case corner box) thickness on architectural drawings!
Minimising risk in your work is vital to help avoid costly problems on your projects, when choosing your surveying partner look for a company that is also risk averse. At BCL we go to great lengths to minimise risk and to provide you with a complete survey package. All of our surveys are run through our quality assurance process, we survey specifically for you – for design purposes, this means more accuracy and more shots in critical hard to survey areas (such as on the boundaries, and ridgelines); it means simply better information.
All of this means less risk to us, to you and to our mutual clients.
Risk Averse – You Should Be, call the experts call BCL FOR SURVEY on 09 630 9512.
