THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

SCHOOL OF SURVEYING AND SPATIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING REPORT

MICHAEL KADZIELA STUDENT NUMBER: 3061095

NOVEMBER 2005

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ABSTRACT

The following report describes an overview of the types and outcomes of work

undertaken by the author which formed the industrial training component of the Bachelor

of Engineering (Surveying and Spatial Information Systems) degree.

In particular, this report examines my involvement in two particular instructions executed

by my host company R J Kell & Co. The first task relates to a detail survey for the

preparation of a subdivision development application, while the second task relates to the

boundary definition along an aligned road that required special consideration after

existing marks were no longer available.

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CONTENTS

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ ii CONTENTS....................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF FIGURES....................................................................................................... iv 1 EMPLOYMENT DETAILS ............................................................................................ 1

1.1 Employment Types and Times ................................................................................. 1 1.2 Obtaining Employment............................................................................................. 2 1.3 Projects and Responsibilities .................................................................................... 3

2 SELECTED PROJECTS ................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Project 1 – Detail for Subdivision Proposal.............................................................. 5 2.2 Project 2 – Aligned Road Boundary Definition...................................................... 10

3 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................. 17 4 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 19 APPENDICES .................................................................................................................. 20

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TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1 – Final Plan for Development Application at Taralga.......................................... 9 Figure 2 – Deposited Plan for Consolidation at Goulburn ............................................... 12 Figure 3 – RMDH&W Used to Fix the South Western Corner of the Block ................... 16

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1 EMPLOYMENT DETAILS

The required industrial training was completed at one company over two separate periods

of employment. The details of the company where this work was performed are listed

below:

R J Kell & Co Land Surveyors

36 Montague Street

GOULBURN NSW 2580

Phone: (02) 4821 1033 Fax: (02) 4821 7238

Email: office@kellsurveyors.com.au

Immediate Supervisor: Justin Kell (Director/Registered Surveyor)

All work was carried out in and around the City of Goulburn with instructions also being

completed in the vicinity of the townships of Crookwell, Binda, Yass, Tarago and

Taralga. Travel times of between 1 and 1½ hours were sometimes required to reach some

of the sites near the fore mentioned townships.

1.1 Employment Types and Times

During both periods of employment relating to this report I was employed as an

Undergraduate Surveyor for both field work as well as office work. The first period of

employment commenced on 5 January 2004 and concluded on 13 February 2004,

consisting of 29 days of work, while the second period of employment commenced on 22

November 2004 and concluded on 18 February 2005, consisting of 51 days. Accordingly,

a total of 80 days work was completed for industrial training purposes.

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1.2 Obtaining Employment

The employment for industrial training purposes was not the first time I had worked with

R J Kell & Co. During the mid year break in first year (2002), I approached the two

surveying firms in my home town of Goulburn to simply gain some basic experience and

to ‘watch and learn’. Initially I contacted Flood and Poidevin Consulting Surveyors who

believed they could not accommodate such a request. I then contacted R J Kell & Co and

spoke with Paul Bayliss who organised for me to meet with one of the directors Justin

Kell.

I then met with Justin Kell and we discussed what work I wanted to do, which at that

stage was simply to go out as an assistant. This initial work was for a period of one week

only, however Justin Kell expressed interest in having me come back at the end of the

year to also work purely as an assistant. Accordingly, I returned and worked for five

weeks at the end of my first year.

The first period of employment that I had approved for industrial training was to take

place at the end of my second year (2003). Once again I contacted Justin Kell and asked

if he would take me on for this, requesting that my work now move into an

Undergraduate Surveyor’s position rather than an assistant. He agreed to this leading to

the commencement of the first period of industrial training.

During the course of the year 2004, the other Registered Surveyor at R J Kell & Co was

approached by another company to open a branch office in Goulburn and left. With

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another surveyor also having moved to the coast six months earlier, the office became

understaffed and advertising for another surveyor was not attracting interest, mainly due

to the location. Whilst this was occurring, Justin Kell contacted me and offered me a

permanent position after the completion of my degree as well as a position for any time

during the holidays that I was able to work, which I accepted. This in turn then led to

employment with the same company for my second period of industrial training.

1.3 Projects and Responsibilities

The following table is a list of the types of projects which I was involved in during the

course of my industrial training and the responsibilities and extent of my involvement in

each.

PROJECT RESPONSIBILITIES & WHAT WAS INVOLVED Amendment of subdivision design

Amend design of subdivisions/lot boundaries to comply with the requirements or requests from the client and council.

Plans were produced with areas, dimensions, lot no's etc which would be checked by my supervisor before being passed on

Detail Surveys Perform field work using data recording, download and reduce data, prepare a plan showing relevant features

The job was then discussed with the supervisor who then checked the work and plan before distribution to the client

Stockpile Volume Surveys

Observations at the stockpile sites using data recording. This data was then passed on to another surveyor for the calculations and plan preparation

Identification surveys

Perform field work (both urban and rural idents), relevant calculations, and prepare the sketch and report

These jobs would then be discussed with the supervisor who then checked the work and sketch/report before distribution to the client

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Rural Boundary Traverses & Pegging

Perform the field work with another surveyor, often alternating instrument work, then enter observations into Geocomp/CAD. Calculate comparisons between reference marks

Boundary definitions would generally consist of a meeting between my supervisor, the surveyor I was with (if different) and myself to determine what would be adopted. This was then passed on to another staff member

Building Set Outs

Prepare preliminary plan of land (including ref marks) and house/shed etc and extract radiations with respect to ref marks. Complete field work including on site calcs from stations and checks

Prepare the plan, discuss with supervisor, who then checks the work and plan before distribution to the client

Subdivision and Development Application Plans

Preparation of subdivision plans in the form of compiled plans for client or council approval

Subdivision Works Place and locate reference marks to meet regulations for a near-completed subdivision. Place references onto Deposited Plan

General Plan Preparation

Plans for sale of land, road location and detail, synopsis plans (showing buffer zones to watercourses etc), long-term lease plans for registration, Deposited Plans etc

All plans were checked by the supervisor before distribution to clients/authorities etc

Soil Testing Location of proposed house sites (GPS) drilling of boreholes, collecting soil, basic tests of colour, classification etc

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2 SELECTED PROJECTS

During this section, I will discuss two projects which I was involved in as part of my

industrial training period. The first project consisted of a detail survey and work for a

subdivision proposal, while the second project was to address a requisition concerning

the boundary definition along an aligned road after a plan of consolidation had been

completed by another surveyor at the firm.

2.1 Project 1 – Detail for Subdivision Proposal

R J Kell & Co was instructed to investigate the feasibility of subdividing an old parcel of

land being Lot 1 DP 711594 in Taralga, a small town with a “population of 341

according to the 1996 census, that lies about 40 kilometres from Goulburn.” (Argyle

County, 2005) The site itself was “the former Bank of NSW building which was built in

1888,” (Sydney Morning Herald, 2004) but has since become a private residence.

The project itself was reasonably straightforward. A precise boundary definition was not

required, although some supporting evidence was surveyed and used in preparation of the

plan. Original fences and kerbs aided this process, as did the plan of the site, which

indicated that the front of the building was on the boundary.

Aside from this, we traversed to the next intersection to the south, to locate another

permanent mark, which in conjunction with the one on the subject intersection, was used

to determine a datum for heights.

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As for the azimuth for the job, a field party from R J Kell & Co had performed an

identification survey on a house further along the same block. The marks they used,

which consisted of drill holes and Galvanised Iron Nails, were still present along the

footpath and kerbs and hence were able to be used for an azimuth, which in accordance

with the plans for this area, was not MGA, but MM.

Therefore, the survey itself initially consisted of a traverse around the subject parcel of

land. An initial starting azimuth was set to an arbitrary bearing of 0° 00’ 00”, however as

it turned out, this bearing required only minor adjustment to swing the survey onto the

required datum. While this traverse was being completed, additional stations were placed

‘on-line’, or along the same line as the initial traverse, so that he majority of the features

on the subject land could be located by survey. Following this, the permanent marks were

located, with the one to the south requiring the placement of an additional traverse

station, to provide a starting level for heights. The initial traverse results produced an

angular misclose of 5” and a linear misclose of 5mm. Having to allow for the one hour

travel time back to Goulburn, this concluded the first day of the work for this job.

The following morning, myself and my supervisor for this project, Brian Rawlinson,

returned to the site to locate the details. This was done using the data recording

capabilities of the instrument we were using, the Leica TC1103.

The vast majority of all of the features on the subject land were located by radiation.

However, a thick mass of blackberry bushes in the south-western corner of the proposed

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lot two, as well as along the fenceline between the proposed lot two and the adjacent

Saint Luke’s Anglican Church (Lot 18, Sec 3, DP 976169), rendered it not possible to

obtain ‘spot-shots’ in these areas. The fenceline itself however, was able to be located

from the traverse stations, which were placed in the grounds of the Anglican Church, to

the west of the subject land.

Once all of the features that were able to be located by the instrument had been, this

equipment was packed up. We then proceeded to measure, with a tape, the dimensions of

the exterior of the improvements located on the subject land. Not only was this used as a

check for the radiations observed with the instrument, but it also aided in locating points

that could not be seen from the stations, such as the rear of the sheds.

With the field work complete, the job was then passed on to me in the office. The first

task associated with the office work was to download the recorded data and check it. This

involved the use of my knowledge regarding the format of a gsi or gre file to examine the

recorded data for errors, inconsistencies etc. We found that some of the height values had

been displayed to us incorrectly by the instrument due to an internal setting hence

requiring the height values from the traverse (first day of work) to be recalculated using

the recorded slope distances and zenith angles.

My next task was to calculate the height of each of the stations based on the height

differences observed in the traverse. This was done using the following formula:

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∆HGND = ∆HOBS + HINST - HTARG

This ground height difference was then applied to each of the stations relative to the

previous one which had a known height value. This in turn produced the reduced levels

for each of the stations on the Australian Height Datum.

Once all of this had been completed, and the survey swung onto the correct azimuth, my

final task in this project was to prepare a proposed plan of subdivision for the parcel that

showed lot numbers, lot areas, approximate dimensions, as well as existing features. This

plan would also be submitted to the local council as part of a development application.

A reduced copy of the final plan appears on the following page.

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Figure 1 – Final Plan for Development Application at Taralga

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2.2 Project 2 – Aligned Road Boundary Definition

This particular project commenced in 1992 and consisted of the consolidation of four

existing allotments (5, 6,7, 8 & Pt.9, Sec 18) as well as 6 Deposited Plan Lots being Lot 4

DP 583677, Lots A&B DP 150609, Lot 1 DP 802698, Lot 5 DP 81779 and Lot 1 DP

193887.

At the time when work was being executed on this project, the surveyor at the time

produced a plan but it was never registered and the job was not continued. This plan also

did not include two of the lots that were added for when the instruction was re-

commenced in 2004.

Accordingly, surveyors from R J Kell & Co performed the field work for this site again,

where possible including and using information that had been extracted in the early

1990’s. The final plan was completed in July 2004 and lodged with the Department of

Lands.

However, at a later date the surveyor received a requisition notice stating that as Bourke

Street was an aligned street, the plan should show reference to this and include it in the

boundary definition.

The surveyor at the time could not locate any of the alignment pins that had been referred

to on other deposited plans and adopted references to the corners from a number of

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reference marks. However, this definition proved to be inconsistent with the bearing of

the line of the street resulting from the alignment.

My role therefore, was to address the requisitions on this plan, make the amendments and

prepare a substitute sheet for lodgement with the Department of Lands. So amongst a

couple of minor drafting changes with regards to instruments that created certain

easements, my main role was to investigate the alignment of Bourke Street to see if it

could be proved and incorporated into the Deposited Plan.

On arriving at the site mid afternoon, my first task was to thoroughly inspect the kerbs to

ensure that there were alignment marks that had been missed by the other surveyors. As

expected, I found no evidence of these.

Following on from this, I was instructed that we should re-radiate the reference marks on

the street, as shown on the plan that was the subject of the requisition, as well as to locate

existing occupations, kerbs and anything that might help to identify boundary location.

A reduced copy of the final plan lodged with the Department of Lands appears on the

following page.

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Figure 2 – Deposited Plan for Consolidation at Goulburn

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As far as the survey goes, I calculated a base starting azimuth between the Reference

Mark Galvanised Iron Pipe (RMGIP) in the northern corner of Arnheim Street and the

Reference Mark Drill Hole & Wing (RMDH&W) at the intersection of Arnheim and

Bourke Streets, and set my backsight accordingly before turning an angle between this

and the RMDH&W at the corner of Bradley and Bourke Streets.

In comparing these with my calculations, I noticed extremely large differences between

what I observed and what I calculated. Thinking I must have made a mistake in the

calculation I recalculated them, as well as another line including the RMDH&W at the

corner of Arnheim and Bourke Streets. With inconsistencies being maintained, we

returned to the office where it was discovered that the reference to the corner from that

particular reference mark had been incorrectly added to the plan. This proved to be a

good result in finding this error before the plan was registered.

On the next day we returned to the site and decided to adopt the azimuth that was shown

on the plan itself. This was between two Permanent Marks (PM 8846 and PM 8840), one

on the corner of Bourke and Bradley Streets and one on the corner of Bourke and

Goldsmith Streets, although they both were on the opposite side of the road to the job

site.

From here, we located the occupations, kerbs, reference marks etc., as we had intended to

do on the previous day. While doing this, we found another RMDH&W that later proved

to be critical in the definition of the street.

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When I returned to the office, it was time to analyse the observations from the previous

day. The first thing I did was to look at the bearing of the street as had previously been

defined by surveys over the years. This produced the following

YEAR PLAN MM BRG MGA BRG ADOPTED FROM

1924 DP 150609 205° 11’ 00” 216° 09’ 50” Terminals of Kerb

1926 DP 150904 205° 11’ 00” 216° 09’ 50” Terminals of Kerb

1948 DP 87173 205° 10’ 00” 216° 08’ 50” Conc. Kerb as Laid

1975 DP 579814 205° 10’ 00” 216° 08’ 50” Unknown

It was thought that the kerbs surveyed by me were in too good of condition, and hence

too new, to be the ones referred to in the older DP’s. This thought was confirmed when

my survey data showed at best, the bearing of the street from the extremities of the kerbs

to be 215° 58’ 23”, a difference of 10’ 27” or roughly 0.7 metres over the length of the

street. Accordingly, the extent of kerbs could not be used to confirm the alignment of

Bourke Street.

Occupations themselves could not be used at the extremities because although the

occupation on the south-eastern side of the street looked as though they might be old

enough to fit in with the plans, the subject lot had new fencing erected around the time of

the original survey in 1992.

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The plan that was produced at this time showed a difference in the actual reference from

the reference mark to the corner than what appeared on other plans by approximately 0.3

metres. By showing this, the plan was consistent with the alignment to the corner of

Arnheim Street and the structures on the corner of Bourke and Arnheim Streets would all

be on the boundary.

The problem with this definition was that it did not agree at the intersection of Bourke

and Goldsmith Streets, and hence was discarded.

By reverting to the previous reference for the mark at the intersection of Bourke and

Bradley Streets, and by using the permanent mark on the opposite corner, the street width

of 30.48 metres agreed with another plan.

Because there were no plans that showed the boundaries for the whole length of the

block, at the south-western end another plan was used that had a connection to the

boundary we were having difficulty fixing (DP 579814). This connection was from the

other reference mark that we found and located in our survey that was not located before.

The mark itself was barely recognisable as it had deteriorated over time due to pedestrian

traffic etc.

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GOLDSMITH STREET

BOURKE

STREET

PM 8840 Fd

RMDH&W Fd

with connect

ion

Figure 3 – RMDH&W Used to Fix the South Western Corner of the Block

The only problem with adopting this mark was that it changed the definition of the corner

of Bourke and Arnheim Streets further to the north-east. Furthermore, it now disagreed

with an old peg found on the corner of the same streets, and places the adjacent fence

over the boundary. This however is not an issue, as this result agrees with DP 89173 from

1948 which shows an encroachment of 1 ½” to the street.

After lengthy consultation with the Department of Lands, it was decided to adopt these

two sets of references to define the street. Rather than its original bearing of 216° 08’ 50”

it was now defined as 216° 02’ 00”.

I was advised by the Department of Lands that the plan should not show the street as no

longer being aligned, but to just include a note that says “All alignment marks and old

kerbs now gone” and include the “Aligned 3.66 – 23.165 – 3.66” statement.

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3 CONCLUSION

The opportunity to work with R J Kell & Co provided the chance to experience a variety

of types of survey activities in both the field and office, as well as the opportunity to

work my way up from being an assistant to having a larger role as an undergraduate

surveyor. Many thanks are extended to R J Kell & Co for allowing me to undertake my

industrial training with them, and to then use the details of the projects I was involved in

for inclusion in this report.

Project 1 was the ideal job for an undergraduate to be assigned. It allowed me to take a

larger role in terms of the execution of the survey, the plan preparation, as well as basic

correspondence and, of course, client communication. It was a task that was

accomplished very smoothly and provided great experience to me as an undergraduate

surveyor. Furthermore, as far as my career goes, this type of instruction is fundamental to

keeping cash flow continue within a business. It is a common type of task that opens the

doors for progress into the next stage, being subdivision, which in turn is an area where

many of my skill will be greatly utilized.

Although coming in on the end of the work for Project 2, this particular job provided an

extremely interesting scenario with regards to understanding the real concepts behind

boundary definitions and the different ways that they may be done and then interpreted. I

recall sitting with the Registered Surveyor until 7:30 p.m. one night looking at the

different marks and measurements we could adopt and what result they would give us for

the alignment of Bourke Street.

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The most significant part of my industrial training is that I was able to experience a

variety of work, all of which are typical of the jobs I will be undertaking in my career.

The fact that I was able to partake in both field work and office work, without simply

being an office assistant, was extremely advantageous in terms of my professional

development.

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4 REFERENCES

Taralga [Online] 2005, Cited as: “Argyle County, 2005”

http://www.argylecounty.com.au/towns/taralga.html

[Accessed 16 November 2005]

Taralga – New South Wales [Online] 2004, Cited as: “Sydney Morning Herald, 2004”

http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Taralga/2005/02/17/1108500199403.html

[Accessed 16 November 2005]

Surveying Regulation 2001 [Online] 2005

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/sr2001243/

[Accessed 16 November 2005]

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A – FIELD NOTES FROM TARALGA

APPENDIX B – FIELD NOTES FROM GOULBURN

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APPENDIX A

FIELD NOTES FROM TARALGA

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APPENDIX B

FIELD NOTES FROM GOULBURN

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