We are at the forefront of technology

At Ratcliff Land Surveys we use instruments manufactured by Leica Geosystems of Heerburgg, Switzerland.

A Total Station is the modern version of a theodolite with the addition of highly accurate digital angular measurement, an electronic distance measurement system and an onboard computer for processing and saving data.

All of our Total Stations use an automatic locking facility, enabling the instrument to accurately pin point the centre of a prism and actively track the related target during the surveyors’ movements.

The instrument will record a variety of data and measurements such as angles, distances and object descriptions, along with any comments or observations the surveyor should wish to include. Measurements are recorded to millimeter accuracy and can be recorded from hundreds of meters away if circumstances dictate.

Our instruments can also measure by non-contact methods enabling “hard to reach or inaccessible” data to be collected such as eaves & ridges, power cable heights, road markings, unsafe buildings or other features that would be dangerous or time consuming to measure.

We use non-contact methods to survey most building elevations thus eliminating the need for physical access, saving time and money.

The Survey data is recorded on an internal storage card and is downloaded once back at our office and the data processed.

The data is then used to construct the basic drawing which is then edited and presented in an appropriate plan format.

We can offer a real-time GPS service giving Ordnance Survey grid co-ordinates and level on site within minutes.

Our Leica GS 08 is connected to the Leica Smartnet system, which consists of a network of Leica and O.S. base stations located around the country, linked to a central server in Docklands, London. From this system, license fee payers can receive corrections via GPRS data received on a mobile phone connected to the GPS receiver. This gives us accuracies of approximately 10-15mm in plan and 10-30mm in elevation for topographical work.

Our GPS enables us to survey large areas, on a one man basis, at relative speed with no limit to the size of the area to be surveyed.

If greater accuracy is required, or there happens to be visibility obstructions for the satellites i.e. Trees or buildings, it would typically be used together with our Total Stations to provide even more flexibility and precision.

A scale factor may also be applied to the Total Station data collected following instruction from our clients.

The amalgamation of both our GPS services and our Total Station procedure, provides us with the ability to carry out projects ranging from small topographical surveys, setting out work, pipelines, landfill, quarries, field measurements, river and lake surveys to large comprehensive topographical surveys.

Recent projects involving the use of a Lieca ScanStation C10 have proved advantageous and can provide us with a highly detailed and accurate elevation.