Had a total grid mapping fail at the old mill site in Lancaster last month

We were setting up a 10-meter grid for a surface survey and I misread the transit by a full degree. By the time we realized, half the team had spent three hours collecting artifacts from the wrong squares. We had to stop everything, re-shoot the base points, and start the day over. Has anyone else messed up a basic setup this bad and how did you fix it without losing the whole day?

3 comments

3 Comments

wades761mo ago

Honestly that sounds like a rough morning. Tbh our crew once spent half a day digging test units based on a GPS datum that was still in the truck's coordinate system. Had to just laugh and redo it all.

iris4411mo ago

Ever notice how the simplest tech mix-ups cause the biggest time sinks?

rubyj1126d ago

Made that same mistake mapping out a plot near an old railroad bed. Turned out we spent three hours digging in the wrong quadrant because I set the transit up on a random fence post instead of the actual benchmark. Had to stand there with my coffee, watching my buddy repaint all our flagging tape by hand. Lesson learned, now I triple check the datum before anyone touches a shovel.