Enquire
Home › Services › Survey & Investigation

Survey and investigation.

Every quantity in an estimate traces back to a level taken on the ground. We carry out topographic and technical survey for sewerage, water supply and road schemes, so the design starts from the site as it is rather than from the site as drawn.

LINE OF SIGHT CH 0+000 0+030 0+060 GROUND TAKEN AS IT IS, NOT AS DRAWN
The level, not the drawing, is what the estimate is built on.
Output
Topo drawing, sections, benchmark register
Basis
Levels taken on the ground
Also
Verification of an existing survey
Delivered by
Sabareesan Civil Constructions
INSTRUMENT 0+000 0+030 0+060 0+090 L SECTION A BENCHMARK ANYONE CAN TIE INTO, NOT A ONE OFF READING
How the work runs

From a staff reading to a section

Levels along the alignment, the existing services located, and a benchmark register left behind. The next person to work on that street ties into the same datum instead of starting a second set of levels that will not agree with the first.

A scheme is only as good as the levels it was designed on

Gravity sewerage lives or dies on fall, and fall comes from levels. A network designed on assumed ground levels will silt somewhere, and the place it silts will not be known until it surcharges. The same is true of stormwater drains that pond and roads that hold water at the kerb. We take the levels, locate the existing services, and hand over data the designer can be held to. Where a scheme is already drawn, we can verify the survey it was built on before anyone commits a budget to it.

02Full scope
Topographic surveySpot levels and contour survey along and across the alignmentLongitudinal sections and cross sections for pipeline and road designRoad edges, structures, drains and existing manhole levelsBenchmark establishment and reduced level register
Technical investigationLocation of existing water, sewer, cable and telecom servicesVerification of an existing survey against ground conditionTrial pit and ground condition observation where requiredAssessment of outfall and disposal point levels
Data and controlDrawings issued in the format the designer works inDigital survey data with the benchmark registerSetting out and level control during executionAs executed levels recorded for the completion drawing
03How an engagement runs

What we are usually asked for

  • Topographic survey for an underground sewerage or water supply scheme
  • Longitudinal and cross section levels along a proposed alignment
  • Existing utility location before excavation in a live street
  • Contour survey for stormwater and drainage design
  • Verification of an existing survey before a DPR is approved
  • Setting out and level control during execution

What the department receives

  • Topographic drawing with spot levels and contours
  • Longitudinal section and cross sections along the alignment
  • Marked up plan of located existing services
  • Benchmark register with reduced levels
  • Digital data in the format your designer works in
04Who this is for
Municipal CorporationsMunicipalitiesTown PanchayatsWater and Sewerage BoardsGovernment Departments

Scope, documentation and billing are set up to match how each of these bodies actually procures and audits, rather than one format applied to all of them.

05Questions we are asked
What does a topographic survey for a sewerage scheme actually include?
Spot levels along and across the proposed alignment, contours where the design needs them, the position and level of existing manholes and services, road edges and structures, and a benchmark register so anyone can pick the work up later and tie into the same datum.
Can you verify a survey that was done by someone else?
Yes, and it is worth doing before a budget is committed. We re run a sample of the levels against the submitted drawing and report the differences. Where the difference changes the hydraulics, we say so plainly.
Do you locate existing services before excavation?
Yes. Water, cable and telecom crossings found by a machine rather than by a survey are the commonest cause of a stopped programme and a damaged asset in urban work.
Who carries out the survey work?
Survey and civil execution are delivered through Sabareesan Civil Constructions, the civil works company within the RD Eco Solutions group.
Where it goes wrong

Four ways survey & investigation quietly fails.

Not a list of risks in the abstract. These are the specific things we are called in to correct, and what we check for before quoting anything.

  1. 01

    Levels assumed from an old drawing

    Ground changes. Roads are relaid, drains are filled, plots are levelled. A survey taken from an archived plan describes a town that no longer exists.

  2. 02

    No benchmark register handed over

    Without a datum anyone can tie into, the next contractor starts again, and the two sets of levels will not agree. The dispute surfaces during execution.

  3. 03

    Existing services located by the excavator

    A cable found by a machine is an outage, a damaged asset and a stopped programme. Locating it first is a fraction of the cost of hitting it.

  4. 04

    Cross sections taken too far apart

    Quantities interpolated across long gaps are estimates dressed as measurements, and the variation appears when the trench is actually cut.

Send us the alignment and the extent.

A road length, a ward, or the layout of a proposed scheme. We will come back with what the survey needs to cover and how long it will take.

Contact us Our services