Surveying
Surveying and the demands of the 365-day railway
Understanding how to use new surveying technology, software and systems properly with integrated quality control checks is key to maximising value in rail projects according to Rory Stanbridge and Mark Combes
T
he Survey Association (TSA) is the trade body for land, hydrographic and technical surveying companies in the UK. Formed in 1979 to give a focus for private sector businesses, the TSA now has more than 140 member companies all directly involved in the surveying business.
TSA’s role is to promote best practice, to
provide a forum for members for discussion, debate and continuing professional development, and to the wider audience, such as engineers, provide guidance on new methods and techniques and a list of suitably qualified and experienced companies.
TSA is also heavily involved in lobbying government and other agencies such as the Environment Agency, regarding policies likely to affect or involve the survey industry. Many of its members undertake railway
surveying and one of these is Severn Partnership, a TSA member since 2002. The company has been involved with the railways for more than 20 years and has witnessed an increasing demand for greater
accuracy and repeatability of survey data in 3D coordinates systems, essential with the limited time available during track possessions. In the ‘British Rail’ days Hallade Survey
was the norm measuring versine with ‘spoons and strings’ using levels, cant bars and measuring theodolite straights in a local chained out system which did the job then and at times is still fit for purpose now some Permanent Way Engineers would argue!
However railway survey contracts
are now being commissioned over many hundreds of miles on mainline routes such as WCML, ECML, MML, GWR, XRail and more. This is because the 21st century has seen a massive demand for the development of the UK rail infrastructure to help boost the economy, which in part is also due to the increased environmental and political pressure that road and airport expansion has been associated with. In 2008 The Times reported Network
Rail’s chief executive, Ian Coucher’s call for greater engineering efficiency to meet the demands of the 365-day railway. TSA members’ response has combined state of the art surveying technology, bespoke survey methods and phased quality control to deliver night time engineering possession surveys on time and to a consistent high quality. 3D surveys in absolute coordinate
March 2013 Page 73
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