Digital setting out in civil engineering: faster, easier, more precise

From the diary of a young site manager: "The unplanned staking out."

Tuesday morning.
You're standing on the construction site. GNSS antenna in your hand. Everything is running.
Manholes, junctions, edging strips, asphalt edges - all neatly marked out.
The plan is in place. The column is supplied. You can take care of the rest.

Back in the office: two other construction sites. Queries. Billing.
The week is full - but well timed. Everything under control. Actually.

Thursday, 4:30 pm.
Your cell phone rings. The foreman.
"You, we're done. Need new points tomorrow. Otherwise we're standing."

You swallow. Sure - glad it went faster.
But why are you finding out now?
Thursday evening. Zero lead time. Full chaos.

From then on it goes like this:
- Thursday evening: Open CAD, prepare points, check plans
- Friday, 6 a.m.: Drive out, stake out for an hour
- Friday, 8 a.m.: Problem on the construction site, call the client
- Friday, 11 a.m.: Still there - other construction site canceled
- Weekend: Half-day rework. Again.

And all this?
Just because the column was earlier - and you have to catch everything.

✅ With SitePlan: The foreman stakes it out himself.

- Point list in the project? Prepared.
- The foreman has GNSS & cell phone - and simply stakes out himself.
- No calls. No CAD in the evening. No early start. No chaos.
- You remain flexible - because the tools are available directly outside.

🧮 Time saving (conservative estimate):

- 1 h point preparation + CAD work
- 2 h early start + staking out
- 2 h unplanned follow-up tasks on site
= 5 hours saved = 500 €

What many say:
"When people can stake out outside on their own, it's like half a working day more per week for me."

 

From the diary of a young site manager: "The staked out points and the frustration that has been bypassed."

Friday morning in the cold, everything neatly marked out - manholes, kerbs, edges.

And then: Monday morning the foreman calls.

"The pegs? They're flat. We can't see anything anymore."

So out again. Everything again. Measure. Spraying. Swearing.

But you wanted to get to the next building site long ago. Or to settle up at the office.

Lost time again. Improvising again. Everything shifts again.

Why is that?

Because we have no solution outside when points are lost.

Unless the foreman could mark them out himself - simply, quickly, without any queries.

Then you can save yourself the trouble of getting up early, measuring twice and wasting time.

Made possible by SitePlan.

Find out more: Centimeter-accurate GPS civil engineering app.

 

From the diary of a young site manager: "The foreman & the lost time."

You are a foreman.
The construction site has been running for a few weeks - pipe, shafts, standard program.
The site manager? Has two other construction sites, of course. You manage a lot on your own. As so often.

Then you stand at the pit, look in - and think to yourself:
"Damn... we should have measured that. You'll never see it again later."

You know what that means:
➔ No measurement
➔ No proof
➔ Discussion during billing
So you call the site manager. He sighs: "It would have to be done... I'll be there today at noon."

You wait. The excavator is stationary.
Maybe you'll leave a hole open. Maybe you'll dig it up again tomorrow.
The main thing is that some point remains visible. Total cramp.

Next day, new problem:
The old points? Gone.
You need new ones to stake out.
But: Site manager no time. Surveyor? Coming tomorrow.
But you want to go further now.
So you estimate and ask your colleague: "Is that about right?"
And hope that it goes well.

Ask your foreman later:
"Should we do the pump shaft as well?"
And you think: Actually, yes. If I knew where exactly.

✅ With SitePlan: The foreman decides & acts

With SitePlan & GNSS antenna it would have looked like this:
- Point? Just get it yourself
- No call, no waiting
- Leave no hole open, no guessing
- No need to stop - continue building straight away

And the difference between "I have to wait" - and "I'll sort it out now."

 

From the diary of a young site manager: A pipeline torn down - a classic on the construction site

Zack - cable severed. 20,000 euros damage. Construction stopped for two days.

Just because a plan is outdated, unclear or simply misinterpreted.

I know such cases well - because it happens on so many construction sites.

The procedure is always similar:
- The site manager compiles the safety folder at the start.
- Line information from Telekom, energy supplier, municipality - it's all there.
- But only as a PDF. No DWG, no coordinates.
- 50 A4 pages for a construction site 600 meters long.
- A reasonable overview plan? Doesn't exist.

Then the mammoth task for the foreman begins:
- With tape measure. Marking spray. Orientation at hydrants and house edges.
- It takes forever. Or goes too fast - and becomes imprecise and careless.

Then the excavator arrives. And on the second dig, it happens:
- The line is not where it was marked.
- And suddenly she's through.

With our SitePlan app? It's very simple:

Line plans can be loaded directly into the project, georeferenced and used on the move.

The foreman can immediately see where he is - and where the line runs. He can mark and check. Without a tape measure, without folders, without guesswork.

Done.

This reduces damage, discussions and construction stoppages.