Notes on the History of Land Surveying

· 2 min read
Notes on the History of Land Surveying

Land surveying is probably the oldest professions on earth. Ever since man has decided a portion of land should belong to a tribe, the need for surveying began.

Land surveying is fascinating. The methods used seek to decide which part of land belongs to whom, hopefully ending arguments forever.

In a nutshell, surveying is really a process using mathematical methods to survey land.

The initial accounts of surveying land goes back to ancient Egypt. Experts have discovered evidences that the ancient Egyptians used basic geometry to redraw the lines of boundary once the Nile River overflowed. An Egyptian land register dating back to to 3000 BC was also found.

Following a Egyptians, the Romans - also just about the most powerful civilizations of the ancient world - practiced land surveying. They took it one step further and made "land surveyor" the official position within the Empire.  3D Modelling Alfreton  were called agrimensores, often known as Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum. Although they used very easy tools, these were very thorough with their jobs and would create straight lines and correct angles by using these tools. Following the lines were measured, they might create shallow ditches to mark the lines. Actually, a number of the furrows they made still exist today.



One of many recorded land surveying of the "modern" times is that of William the Conqueror who wrote the Domesday Book in 1086. This book is truly a set of names of land owners, how much land they owned along with other information about the land. While it was an amazing quantity of information during this time, the bits of information were not 100% correct. The locations weren't accurate and the maps weren't made to scale.

Among history's greatest icons was also an avid surveyor - Napoleon Bonaparte. The fascination with surveying land was actually just something of his desire to conquer the planet. Napoleon Bonaparte founded a registry called the cadastre. This includes a registry of properties of a county, ownership details, locations so when much information regarding the land's value. Yes, Napoleon Bonaparte can be viewed as a land surveyor - and an extremely smart man.

The techniques used for land surveying also have evolved over the centuries. A long time ago, people would use whatever may help them determine the length from one point to another. This means using chains with links and even ropes. Of course, this didn't give accurate results but they didn't have the technology we now have back then.

Today, land surveyors have the very best technologies to help them making use of their job. There is GPS, or Global Positioning System, that is probably the most accurate technologies used today. Total stations are also essential to a land surveyor, which employs the application of an EDM or Electronic Distance Measurement device along with a theodolite which allows for more precise angle and distance measurements.