BAUTISTA, REINA MAE A.

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“Understanding Surveying”
In the field of civil engineering, surveying is an integral part and serves as the guide of
every engineer as they work. Boundaries are needed to be defined to avoid conflicts between
involved parties. Locations should be specific to prevent problems to rise. Being said, surveying
is a difficult task and should be taken seriously because mistakes have no room for surveying.
Fortunately, nowadays, various instruments and techniques continue developing which
provide more efficient and accurate services than before like Electromagnetic Distance
Measurement (EDM) equipment and Global Positioning System (GPS) devices.1 As a future
engineer, we are lucky enough that they are already existing. And looking back on the past
centuries, people only used materials available in their environment. They need to be resourceful
to do their job. For example, stones are used to mark the boundaries of land and wooden rods were
used by Egyptians for measuring a distance.2 They do not also have proper understanding and
knowledge about surveying unlike today that it is being taught in school and there are laws to be
obeyed. The development of surveying over the years is product of hard work, adaptability, and
experiences of people as the world changes. They developed those instruments and techniques and
today, it is our calling to use them wisely and to further improve them for the next generations.
The year 2020 has been one of the toughest years that mankind face due to the global
pandemic and up until now is being experienced by everyone. The COVID-19 affected many fields
and sectors and one of these is the field of surveying. We know that surveying involves being
physically present on the site but due to pandemic people are restricted to go outside. The biggest
challenge in this “new normal” is to have the smooth communication, whether it is between project
members, government agencies, or even with clients.3 In this field, it is important that every detail
is clear and right. However, limited face-to-face interactions can lead to misunderstandings and
delays in work. Nevertheless, surveyors cannot stop their work since a lot of projects depend on
them. Surveyors need to find alternative ways and one of these is through drone surveying. Drone
surveying utilizes drones which produce faster results with accurate data and less human contact.4
Aside from this, photogrammetry tools and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are more popular
now and many companies invest in them. Surveyors also used aerial images from resources like
Google Earth and Bing.3 From these, it shows that the field of surveying was able to cope up with
the pandemic with the help of technology.
Surveying is a vital part of civil engineering as well as in our daily living. Through
surveying, one can know the boundaries of his/her property. Knowing our boundaries whether it
is about the land or life situations brings peace and harmony to everyone. There are doors that we
can freely open but there are also doors that are intended to be locked and shouldn’t be open. There
are always boundaries in life that we need to respect. These boundaries are our safe zone that going
beyond it can bring harm to ourselves. Also, if we know it, we can identify what belongs to us and
take care and fight for it unless we want to lose it. We must understand that if we have a right to
something, we should not let anyone trampled over this right. Moreover, in surveying we need to

Reina Mae A. Bautista

have precise and correct measurements. Failure to do this will result to additional cost, effort, and
time. It goes the same in life, we should think carefully before we do our actions. We make
mistakes and we are blessed if we are given a chance to correct them, but this will not always be
the case. So, take things seriously for we are accountable for our actions.
Surveying is important in this word and if I would choose a future career, a land surveyor
could be one of my possible choices. Ever since I started studying civil engineering, I want to
major in transportation. The reason is traveling and adventures are my interest in life. But watching
a YouTube video entitled “Who Would Enjoy A Career as A Land Surveyor?”5 made me consider
it to be one of my choices as my future career. It is because I would have a chance to work outdoors
rather than staying in the office. I want to have work that is being physically present on the site.
Aside from this, I think the work of the land surveyor is very fulfilling, even though it is difficult,
and a lot of effort and time should be exerted, it will challenge me to always do my best.
No one knows the future, maybe I will pursue a career in transportation engineering or in
surveying. But I know that the world of engineering will develop as well as the field of surveying.
It is possible that in the future, conducting a land survey would be faster and easier. The data we
could gather would be more accurate. I also thought that those areas that are not easily accessible
would be reached and surveyors would be able to gather data about it with the use of improved
drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s). More companies are investing in instruments and
techniques for more advanced mapping. Overall, the field of surveying and the field of technology
would continue to work together in the future.
The field of surveying has evolved over the centuries and continues advancing and this
proves the importance of surveying. Through surveying, the world was able to work in unity and
peace. Many projects were able to begin their operations. However, it is also one of the fields that
the pandemic affected. Thankfully, the advancement in technology helps it to cope up and continue
to do its job. Whatever changes that this world experiences, surveying should be able to keep up.
We do not know what the future holds, but one thing for sure is surveying will not disappear for
the world needs it. A world without surveying is a world that is not existing.

Reina Mae A. Bautista

References:
[1] Evolution of surveying and surveying technology | Intergovernmental Committee on
Surveying and Mapping. (n.d.). Retrieved October 4, 2021, from
https://www.icsm.gov.au/education/fundamentals-land-ownership-land-boundaries-and-
surveying/surveyors-and-surveying-0
[2] Britannica. (n.d.). Surveying - Global positioning | Britannica. Retrieved October 4, 2021,
from https://www.britannica.com/technology/surveying/Global-positioning
[3] Burch, T. (2020, May 6). Surveying and COVID-19: A lesson in essential services - GPS
World : GPS World. https://www.gpsworld.com/surveying-and-covid-19-a-lesson-in-
essential-services/
[4] Shimonti, P. (2020, September 7). COVID-19 push to aerial surveying and mapping .
https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/covid-19-push-to-aerial-surveying-and-mapping/
[5] The Association of British Columbia Land Surveyors. (2018, January 26). Who Would
Enjoy A Career As A Land Surveyor? [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw-D2tZNJ3v8

Reina Mae A. Bautista