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/ TOOLBOX
PLUMB BOBS
TO LASER BEAMS
B ef o r e h i g h t e c h n olog y
s u r veyo rs u s e d t h e o d oli t e s ,
s t e el ta p e s , wo o d e n ro d s ,
cha in in g p i n s, d raf t i n g s h i e l d s ,
l o g s c a l e s , p e n c i ls an d ve l l u m t o
cr e a t e t h e i r b as e p lan s
DAN MacISAAC
In 1999, I found myself working on
an interesting surveying project: a
very detailed survey of two acres of
land in Brookline operated by the
National Park Service (NPS). That
house and office had been owned by
Frederick Law Olmsted. We were
surveying the location of all the
existing vegetation. along with the
terrain and other site features. The
goal was to create a base map for the
NPS staff to use in their restoration
efforts on the property. That survey
will always remain as one of my
personal favorites. Our crew took
over 2700 shots or enough to
cover the site with a 5’x5’ grid of
topographic measurements.
B
efore high technology took the
world by storm, surveyors used
theodolites, steel tapes, wooden rods,
chaining pins, drafting shields, log
scales, pencils and vellum to create
their base plans. Surveyors during that
period would draft manuscript plans
out in the field with a plane table. The
plane table was used to map areas large
and small. It was very quick at drawing
contours and producing a work plan as
everything was drafted at the time of
the measurement.
Since Olmsted’s time, the tools used to
survey land have changed dramatically.
Changes related to the electronics era
brought the advent of the electronic
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