How to Check Survey Data on Infrastructure Projects

The process of checking survey data for infrastructure projects can be a lengthy and complicated task. The end goal, however, is to make sure that the quality of your survey data is up to par with industry standards. If you're not using DASH or Orbital Projects software, then you may want to consider it as they both provide quick and accurate ways of assessing your data's worthiness.

Why do we care about quality survey data?

Survey data is the backbone of all infrastructure projects. Data on topography, materials and crossings are incredibly important. Without this information, operating and maintaining the infrastructure becomes increasingly risky. The humble surveyor is one of the most important people on a construction project.

High quality data doesn't just affect operations... it drives the project itself faster. Most technology needs data to run well. Where does the data come from? It comes from the surveyor.

That means the data being collected, needs to be high quality. The survey data needs to be correct, formatted correctly, and it needs to be portable.

Quality Control and Quality Assurance

These two terms are often used interchangeably, but they are different.

Quality Assurance has more to do with the whole process of getting work done. If we can build “quality” into the process, we can be assured of quality.

EXAMPLE: A baker can buy premium ingredients, put automated timers on their mixers and throw out any cookies that are over 2 hours old. The baker has built a process for high-quality cookies. This is quality assurance, because the quality is built into the process.

Quality Control on the other hand is about checking something to make sure its good.

EXAMPLE: A baker taste tests their ingredients, taste tests cookies when they come out of the oven, and asks customers how the cookies are. This is quality control, because quality is being actively checked and tested.

The Deep Check Of Survey Data

DASH is the supreme quality control tool for Survey Data Techs.

I want to start by saying that Survey Data Techs are the unsung heroes of construction projects. They make sure all data coming in is clean, accurate and ready for processing. But this work takes time; it's not easy or quick! How do we comb through each value in a dataset with a fine-toothed comb, and also hit our deadlines? We use automation.

DASH makes quality control checks really simple. It has built-in algorithms that check for all sorts of problems. It can check for simple things like missing requirements or incorrect data types. But it can also check complex things, like Joint Aheads and Joint Backs getting out of order. It can also check location values to make sure shots are valid, so things like random elevation spike or big gaps between shots can be highlighted and validated.

The best thing about DASH is that it's designed to work similarly to a spreadsheet. Most Data Techs start out using a spreadsheet to do their checks. DASH is like a spreadsheet on steroids. You don't have to spend time messing with macros, everything is built in. And if you still need the comfort of Excel, DASH can export everything into a spreadsheet for you.

The Automated Quality Assurance

Quality assurance, on the other hand, is when we do our work in a way that guarantees or increases the quality of the work. This means we don't do any extra steps. Instead we build a process that will naturally result in quality. For survey data quality assurance, look to Orbital Projects.

This is an online tool that surveyors can upload data to, and it will run algorithms that automatically check for quality. These automated checks are lightweight, and they take no additional time to run. It's just automatic, and it happens every time.

Once the checks are run, and the data passes validations, then the data will push to a map, populate reports and continue helping the project.

If you are a Survey Data Tech, you need to run a more robust check. The recommendation is to start with Orbital Projects, and then do the deep check with DASH. The two tools are integrated, so you can see all of the Orbital data inside DASH and check it all online.

Whatever you do, make it good

To summarize, we want to do a really good job with QA/QC on survey data. The first, quality assurance, involves an approach where you do everything automatically to make sure your data has high-quality standards. Quality control combs through at all incoming data and checks it for errors automatically before sending it on its way. DASH provides a deep check of survey data while Orbital Projects performs quick checks automatically. To learn more about these strategies and how they can help your next project move faster by ensuring accuracy, contact our team today!