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Machine Control & the Land Surveyor... How is 3D Machine Control Technology re-defining the role of the Land Surveyor?

March 2009 -- In some instances, it does not affect the industry at all.  It certainly does not affect the Industry from a boundary surveying point of view. If you are a land surveyor and you only perform boundary surveying, I don't see machine control affecting your business at all.  The world will still need professional land surveyors to complete boundary surveys.

However, if you are a land surveyor that does construction layout, machine control will certainly affect your business and most likely, already has.  One of the biggest issues I see with the surveying industry is the land surveyor is simply letting the machine control industry go by and they are not getting involved. It is understandable to some degree as we are creatures of habit.  Change, especially when education is involved, is not always readily embraced. But, to ignore the benefits of this exciting technology has its consequences.  In some instances, I have found this to be a case of `out of sight, out of mind."

Marc Cheves, LS editor of The American Surveyor makes note in his February 2009 editorial that he had the good fortune to moderate the machine control panel discussion at the New York State Association of Professional Land Surveyors conference in January.  The panel included Harry O. Ward, PE, Daniel Streett, PE, LS and Bruce Flora, LS all industry veterans.  I also had the good fortune to sit in on this panel discussion.  There was certainly a lot of knowledge in the room and the panel did a great job of answering the questions posed by the audience made up of mainly land surveyors.  One of the things I found most interesting was the fact that many of the audience members knew absolutely nothing about machine control.  One of the first things the panel did was to ask if there were any specific questions that anyone wanted to make sure was covered during the 3 hour discussion.  At this point, a gentleman sitting next to me leaned over and whispered "How can I ask any questions, when I have absolutely no idea what machine control is?"  This is when it became obvious to me that there are many in our industry that are completely oblivious to machine control and this technology that could be taking away part of their livelihood. 

One reason I find it hard to believe that many land surveyors know nothing about machine control is the fact that machine control is no longer new.  It has been around for quite some time and has been used in a practical sense for over 10 years in the construction and mining industry.  It has been the subject of many articles in many of the land surveying magazines not just in the construction industry magazines.  How is it possible that many of us let technology that could take away our livelihood, pass us by for 10 years, without even knowing it was out there?  I don't have an answer for that other than perhaps land surveyors are not keeping up with their industry as a whole.

Why is this is the first machine control panel discussion the NYSAPLS has had during their conference?  How many other state land surveying conferences are including machine control as a part of their seminars?  I did attend an 8 hour seminar hosted by NYSPALS during 2008 but I believe that is the first one hosted by NYSPALS or the land surveying profession in NY.  I have been to numerous seminars and classes hosted by machine control dealers and heavy equipment dealers, but I believe this was the first one sponsored by the land surveying profession.  It amazed me that there were not a lot of people there.  I had envisioned a large group of land surveyors trying to break into this market and that classes would be flooded.  That is not what I found.

Amber Anderson and Jennifer Mauer of NYSAPLS were kind enough to provide me with some statistics.  In NY there are currently 1503 licensed land surveyors.  Last year, a total of 40 people attended an 8 hour seminar that was presented in three different locations across NY.  That is less than 3 percent of the licensed land surveyors in NY and it does not include unlicensed staff.  At the NYSPALS conference in January the conference was attended by approximately 765 people.  Of those people, 87 attended the panel discussion and 31 attended a separate seminar called "Viewing Your 3D Future - Man or Machine," presented by Harry Ward.  That seems to be a relatively low percentage for technology that may be taking our livelihood away. 

The fact of the matter is machine control is here and it will only get bigger.  The numbers currently being thrown around the industry are that only 7% to 10% of the construction industry is using machine control.  So, what happens when the number jumps to 20% or 30% over the next few years?  That means there will be at least twice as many users than there are now.  If we are seeing it affect our business now, what happens when twice as many contractors are using it?  Are we going to sit by and watch it all pass by and then complain that we lost a portion of our livelihood to machine control technology?  Considering the current statistics many land surveyors may be doing this.

However, there is a bright side.  There is still opportunity in the construction industry for the land surveyor and machine control technology can certainly be an opportunity for land surveyors if they embrace the technology.  You don't have to drive by a construction site every day and watch it progress with no grade stakes anywhere on site and wonder where your livelihood went.  The answer is simple, you can be a part of machine control and machine control technology, all you need to do is make the commitment to learn the technology and become part of the solution.  There are still opportunities for the land surveyor in the construction field and there are still opportunities to work with construction companies that have already gotten involved in machine control.  These are not the same opportunities we have had in the past, but they are there, you just need to know where to look.  I for one have been very happy to transform from "stake driver" to "positioning expert."

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