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Aug 16, 2023 · From the earliest days of recorded history, surveying has been part of the construction and planning process. Many ancient civilisations had their own approach to surveying and it is fascinating to see how these developments took place, independent of one another.
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surveying, a means of making relatively large-scale, accurate measurements of the Earth’s surfaces. It includes the determination of the measurement data, the reduction and interpretation of the data to usable form, and, conversely, the establishment of relative position and size according to given measurement requirements. Thus, surveying has two similar but opposite functions: (1) the determination of existing relative horizontal and vertical position, such as that used for the process of mapping, and (2) the establishment of marks to control construction or to indicate land boundaries.
Surveying has been an essential element in the development of the human environment for so many centuries that its importance is often forgotten. It is an imperative requirement in the planning and execution of nearly every form of construction. Surveying was essential at the dawn of history, and some of the most significant scientific discoveries could never have been implemented were it not for the contribution of surveying. Its principal modern uses are in the fields of transportation, building, apportionment of land, and communications.
It is quite probable that surveying had its origin in ancient Egypt. The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza was built about 2700 bce, 755 feet (230 metres) long and 481 feet (147 metres) high. Its nearly perfect squareness and north–south orientation affirm the ancient Egyptians’ command of surveying.
Evidence of some form of boundary surveying as early as 1400 bce has been found in the fertile valleys and plains of the Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile rivers. Clay tablets of the Sumerians show records of land measurement and plans of cities and nearby agricultural areas. Boundary stones marking land plots have been preserved. There is a representation of land measurement on the wall of a tomb at Thebes (1400 bce) showing head and rear chainmen measuring a grainfield with what appears to be a rope with knots or marks at uniform intervals. Other persons are shown. Two are of high estate, according to their clothing, probably a land overseer and an inspector of boundary stones.
There is some evidence that, in addition to a marked cord, wooden rods were used by the Egyptians for distance measurement. There is no record of any angle-measuring instruments of that time, but there was a level consisting of a vertical wooden A-frame with a plumb bob supported at the peak of the A so that its cord hung past an indicator, or index, on the horizontal bar. The index could be properly placed by standing the device on two supports at approximately the same elevation, marking the position of the cord, reversing the A, and making a similar mark. Halfway between the two marks would be the correct place for the index. Thus, with their simple devices, the ancient Egyptians were able to measure land areas, replace property corners lost when the Nile covered the markers with silt during floods, and build the huge pyramids to exact dimensions.
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The Greeks used a form of log line for recording the distances run from point to point along the coast while making their slow voyages from the Indus to the Persian Gulf about 325 bce. The magnetic compass was brought to the West by Arab traders in the 12th century ce. The astrolabe was introduced by the Greeks in the 2nd century bce. An instrument for measuring the altitudes of stars, or their angle of elevation above the horizon, took the form of a graduated arc suspended from a hand-held cord. A pivoted pointer that moved over the graduations was pointed at the star. The instrument was not used for nautical surveying for several centuries, remaining a scientific aid only.
Ancient history. A plumb rule from the book Cassells' Carpentry and Joinery. Surveying has occurred since humans built the first large structures. In ancient Egypt, a rope stretcher would use simple geometry to re-establish boundaries after the annual floods of the Nile River.
The history of surveying dates back to ancient times, with a recorded land register in Egypt in 3000BC, and re-establishment of farm boundaries following floods of the Nile River and construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza recorded about the same time.
Dec 15, 2021 · Surveying is practiced all over the world, and sometimes it seems as though the field of land surveying is some sort of secret profession. Over time and around the world, the profession has had many changes, but the basic premise has remained the same.
In this presentation, we'll trace the roots of surveying back through these important periods, highlighting notable places, artefacts, and lessons learned from 36,000 BCE through the end of the Roman Era.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the art of surveying advanced more rapidly. The need for maps and location of national boundaries caused England and France to make extensive surveys requiring accurate triangulation; thus geodetic surveying began.
