There’s probably never been a better time to be a surveyor, especially with the many new infrastructure projects in the works. For surveyors who want the freedom to take advantage of the boom, it may be a good time to start a surveying business. For others, it’s a great time to pick up new skills, recognition and pay within their survey/engineering firm.

Surveyors were key to the birth of our country, serving in the Revolutionary War and signing the Declaration of Independence. Since that time, surveyors have continued to serve our country, both in peacetime and in conflict.

We’ve all heard of RFID, a technology that’s been around since the 1930s. Did you know that it’s now one of the fastest-growing technologies in the world?

Surveying was critical to the development of our nation – in fact all four of the presidents on Mount Rushmore were surveyors or map-makers and many of those who fought for our independence were surveyors. Thomas Jefferson was the author U.S. Public Land Survey System which bases land divisions on a rectangular grid. This system became law in 1785 and continues to provide the backbone of economic development to this day.

Hi, this is Tim Burch, Executive Director of NSPS, and I’m teaming up with Berntsen to share why we’re so excited about this year’s FIG Working Week.

Surveyors know a lot more about the earth than most professions. Many people choose the profession because of the opportunity to get out and enjoy the great outdoors while earning a good living.

Saturday, April 22nd is Earth Day, a time to celebrate the beautiful planet we inhabit and take steps to keep it healthy.

It’s common knowledge that Henry David Thoreau wrote Walden about his two years living at Walden Pond (1845-1847). The book had an enormous impact at the time and its effects are still felt today.

April is Safe Digging Month ‒ for good reason. As the construction season ramps up, the number of utility strikes increases. According to the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), damages to underground utilities cost the U.S. an estimated $30 billion ‒ most caused by unintended strikes to utilities during excavation for construction projects. Unfortunately, few people are aware of this on-going problem until they lose power or internet when a backhoe strikes a cable – or when a gas line is struck, and the area is evacuated.

Surveyor’s Week is a great time to recognize the work of surveyors and their contributions, not only within the United States, but around the world. In our many blogs about surveying and famous surveyors, we’ve mainly focused on this country, but surveying is just as important around the world as it is here.

Surveying is one of the few professions where practitioners truly leave their mark, both physically, with survey markers, as well as in recorded history. Sometimes this work is truly monumental, as is the case with Alice Cunningham Fletcher.

Fletcher was born into wealth – her father was a prominent New York attorney, and her mother came from a wealthy Bostonian family. Unfortunately, her father’s health was poor and the family moved to Havana, Cuba shortly before Fletcher was born in the hopes the climate there would improve his health. However, the climate change didn’t work, and her father passed away in 1939 when Fletcher was only a year old.

Surveyors have special reason to celebrate President’s Day, since Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and even Teddy Roosevelt all had surveying and map-making in their backgrounds. Jefferson’s surveying experience informed his acts as president, including the establishment of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) and the Louisiana Purchase that added 827,000 square miles of land to the United States.

By the 1800s, the westward expansion was continuing unabated, despite land being inhabited by indigenous peoples as well as claimed by other countries.

Did you know that the highest mountain in the world is named for a surveyor who never laid eyes on it?

George Everest was the Surveyor General of India from 1830-1843, during the time when Great Britain was consolidating its control over the country in order to have full access to its vast resources. His work was so important to the fulfillment of that goal that the mountain was eventually named after him – despite his protests.

The dizzying pace of technological change is overwhelming at times. But no matter what changes, surveyors keep us grounded, because they know precisely where we stand, X, Y and Z. Surveyors have been setting the markers for progress since ancient times – the early Egyptian and Roman architectural wonders were based on the work of early surveyors. Colonial surveyors were key to the founding of the United States, not only by parsing out boundary lines for European settlers, but by nation-building – helping to author the Declaration of Independence, then helping to create a new kind of government for the new nation.

Money, Money, Money

Infrastructure is no longer an ignored necessity in the United States. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed in 2021, our country is making a once-in-a-lifetime investment in its economic backbone to the tune of $1.2 trillion over five years. In 2022, 6,900 specific projects have been launched in 4,000 communities in all 50 states.

What a half-century it has been! Back in 1972, when Berntsen was founded, the world was a different place. There was no internet (it wouldn’t be available until 1983) ; social media wouldn’t show up for another 25 years. People had to communicate by landline telephone, snail mail, telex – or even talk face-to-face!

Technology was beginning to change surveying as well – Berntsen introduced the first lightweight aluminum alloy monument, making surveying less arduous; at the same time, Electronic Distance Measurement (EDMs), were being used in conjunction with theodolites, speeding up surveying. By the 1980s, surveying was becoming increasingly digitized, and by 1990, the digital total station was introduced.

Berntsen and Schonstedt are two companies that were founded on sound science and good ideas – and a strong commitment to make the world a better place.

It’s National 811 Day – a very important, but little-known commemoration. Anyone who is planning to disturb the ground should call this number before digging or excavating – or go to call811.com and connect online. Once you provide the area of excavation, locators will come out and mark the location of buried gas pipes, water lines, power cables and other underground utilities.

Surveyors are natural explorers, so they appreciate and enjoy the beauty and infinite variety of nature every day. Unless you choose a profession that includes the outdoors, people must intentionally plan a trip to a county, state or national park. Most people aren’t aware that surveyors were instrumental in the creation of our National Parks, including our first – Yellowstone National Park.

It’s hard to overstate how important surveying was to the establishment of the United States – three of our presidents were surveyors, as well as six of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. But even before there were presidents, surveying and cartography played an essential role in the fight for independence.

I’m sure most surveyors have heard of the “Final Point” program created by Berntsen International, Inc. and the National Society of Professional Surveyors Foundation (NSPSF). It’s a way to memorialize the work of beloved surveyors who have had a lasting impact on the profession, while supporting the future of surveying through NSPS/Berntsen scholarships.