Does anyone know any portable device/equipment that can quickly tell us the elevation of a spot? I found it's extremely slow to get elevation data from a surveyor. I don't need the device to be very accurate, 1"-3" deviation is acceptable. The bottom line is I can push my site work design forward, then later I can adjust my design after I get the accurate data from the surveyor. Any recommendations?
I use a Bosch self-leveling cross-line laser and a tape measure pretty often and generally find that I'm within a 1/4" of the surveyor overall, though you'll need something to reference if you need it to compare with sea levels. But I'm guessing if it's just for landscape/existing conditions this is way faster.
Thank you for the recommendation. Can I get the absolute elevation from this for a floor elevation, roof ridge elevation, etc?
Feb 3, 22 6:34 pm ·
·
SneakyPete
What's the point? Get a survey, agree on a specific point being a specific ASL dimension, then draw relative to that. You're designing a building, nobody is going to care how high above the surface of the ocean it is. Especially at high tide.
Did you mean you use this to shoot laser line on the object and then use the line as reference, and use tape measure to measure the height difference?
Feb 3, 22 6:38 pm ·
·
msparchitect
For landscape or existing exterior features of a building, I shoot a laser line across the property in the evening time (so i can see the line) and then use a tape measure to measure up and down from the line to get the delta between certain points on the property. You would need to know an absolute though from an actual survey to then interpret that information. It's pretty straightforward but takes some math.
Thank you for your reply. Did you mean you use the leveling tool to set up reference laser lines and then work from there to know the height difference?
I am looking for some device that can tell me the elevation directly. If that's normally in our budget, or too heavy to carry around, and we will have to use some work-around, please let me know. Need advices and experience here. Thank you!
If I base my drawings on the absolute elevation system, I found it's easier to coordinate among differentn construction team(excavation team, foundation pouring team, etc). I can also base my drawing on the relative elevation system(like I can define the first floor to the 0, and mark all other elevations from that level), but I found the coordination among different teams got weaker this way.
Interesting that you have a forum of people who deal with what you're talking about on a daily basis and yet none of them offered the solution you were looking for. Maybe take that as a hint that there are better ways to solve the problem.
Yeah if it's too slow to get data from your surveyor my advice is to find a new surveyor. That's really your best option for this. (alternatively, dig up a previous survey and go find a benchmark yourself).
There probably is, but I would doubt it has the 1-3 inch accuracy the OP is looking for. Most GPS-enabled phones are going to have something like 16 foot accuracy (at least according to the government) with clear skies and no obstructions. Not sure if that's just horizontal or vertical though.
Feb 4, 22 2:18 pm ·
·
fenwayrabbit
I search this, there are some apps can do this, mainly for outdoor activity. But the accuracy is about 3' or so. Good enough for outdoor activity, not enough for construction.
Yep, getting something accurate to the inch is difficult when it's communicating with multiple satellites in space over 10,000 miles away. Usually better to find a known elevation (like a survey marker or benchmark) and use more accurate devices to level and measure in relation to that.
Thank you, I tried to google this, but didn't get the right key word. I even consulted a civil engineer before, he suggested "construction laser", but I still didn't get a satisfactory result. I hope to find something economical but accurate enough device.
For whatever it's worth. I have a purpose-built small GPS cycling computer that says it's accurate to within 49 feet, 95% of the time (most users can expect accuracy between 16 and 33 feet under normal conditions).
It also includes a barometric altimeter sensor which senses changes in air pressure to account for elevation changes and it's accurate to +/- 10 feet when calibrated properly (which requires you to set the elevation to a known point).
All of that is helpful in understanding that I rode my bike on a certain road and climbed and descended x number of feet. I don't need better accuracy though some people get distraught when they can see the GPS track on the wrong side (left or right) of the road. But it's nowhere near as accurate as the OP wants. You'd instead be talking about whether I rode on the left or right side of the white line on the road and whether I jumped over a pothole (elevation change of a few inches) or went around it to the left or right side.
portable equipment/device to know elevation
Does anyone know any portable device/equipment that can quickly tell us the elevation of a spot? I found it's extremely slow to get elevation data from a surveyor. I don't need the device to be very accurate, 1"-3" deviation is acceptable. The bottom line is I can push my site work design forward, then later I can adjust my design after I get the accurate data from the surveyor. Any recommendations?
dji drone
laser level
water level
masonry string & string level
I use a Bosch self-leveling cross-line laser and a tape measure pretty often and generally find that I'm within a 1/4" of the surveyor overall, though you'll need something to reference if you need it to compare with sea levels. But I'm guessing if it's just for landscape/existing conditions this is way faster.
Amazon link:
Thank you for the recommendation. Can I get the absolute elevation from this for a floor elevation, roof ridge elevation, etc?
What's the point? Get a survey, agree on a specific point being a specific ASL dimension, then draw relative to that. You're designing a building, nobody is going to care how high above the surface of the ocean it is. Especially at high tide.
Did you mean you use this to shoot laser line on the object and then use the line as reference, and use tape measure to measure the height difference?
For landscape or existing exterior features of a building, I shoot a laser line across the property in the evening time (so i can see the line) and then use a tape measure to measure up and down from the line to get the delta between certain points on the property. You would need to know an absolute though from an actual survey to then interpret that information. It's pretty straightforward but takes some math.
Thank you for your reply. Did you mean you use the leveling tool to set up reference laser lines and then work from there to know the height difference?
I am looking for some device that can tell me the elevation directly. If that's normally in our budget, or too heavy to carry around, and we will have to use some work-around, please let me know. Need advices and experience here. Thank you!
It sounds like you want to know elevation, like, in feet above sea level. And I have to ask, why?
If I base my drawings on the absolute elevation system, I found it's easier to coordinate among differentn construction team(excavation team, foundation pouring team, etc). I can also base my drawing on the relative elevation system(like I can define the first floor to the 0, and mark all other elevations from that level), but I found the coordination among different teams got weaker this way.
Interesting that you have a forum of people who deal with what you're talking about on a daily basis and yet none of them offered the solution you were looking for. Maybe take that as a hint that there are better ways to solve the problem.
Yeah if it's too slow to get data from your surveyor my advice is to find a new surveyor. That's really your best option for this. (alternatively, dig up a previous survey and go find a benchmark yourself).
start with the deltas & update with the absolute elevations when you get the survey
Sounds like you need to look into survey-grade GPS devices. Here's some information that might help with that.
gotta be a phone app for this!
There probably is, but I would doubt it has the 1-3 inch accuracy the OP is looking for. Most GPS-enabled phones are going to have something like 16 foot accuracy (at least according to the government) with clear skies and no obstructions. Not sure if that's just horizontal or vertical though.
I search this, there are some apps can do this, mainly for outdoor activity. But the accuracy is about 3' or so. Good enough for outdoor activity, not enough for construction.
Yep, getting something accurate to the inch is difficult when it's communicating with multiple satellites in space over 10,000 miles away. Usually better to find a known elevation (like a survey marker or benchmark) and use more accurate devices to level and measure in relation to that.
Thank you, I tried to google this, but didn't get the right key word. I even consulted a civil engineer before, he suggested "construction laser", but I still didn't get a satisfactory result. I hope to find something economical but accurate enough device.
For whatever it's worth. I have a purpose-built small GPS cycling computer that says it's accurate to within 49 feet, 95% of the time (most users can expect accuracy between 16 and 33 feet under normal conditions).
It also includes a barometric altimeter sensor which senses changes in air pressure to account for elevation changes and it's accurate to +/- 10 feet when calibrated properly (which requires you to set the elevation to a known point).
All of that is helpful in understanding that I rode my bike on a certain road and climbed and descended x number of feet. I don't need better accuracy though some people get distraught when they can see the GPS track on the wrong side (left or right) of the road. But it's nowhere near as accurate as the OP wants. You'd instead be talking about whether I rode on the left or right side of the white line on the road and whether I jumped over a pothole (elevation change of a few inches) or went around it to the left or right side.
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