The Importance of Monument Preservation

This is a topic that isn’t near and dear to many hearts, just a few surveyors. I hesitate to write about it because so few of my followers will care. Just kidding, no one really reads these! It’s all about getting the correct phrases in here so I can show up on Page 3 of a search result! Today’s phrase is Monument Preservation. Pre-construction and post-construction are the terms that usually accompany the phrase, because usually you are required to ensure you are not going to be disturbing or destroying monuments in the process of major construction projects. This is important, because if your new building destroys monuments during construction, it could result in more expensive subsequent surveys for everyone else in the neighborhood. Why? Because surveyors rely on monuments (especially original monuments) set by previous surveyors, the destruction of these monuments means a lot more work needs to go into surveying an area. This is where the important part comes: Disaster, especially Wildfire Disaster Monument Preservation. This is not my idea. There is a white pages article written by fellow CLSA Sacramento Chapter member Mike Quararoli (Check out this article: https://amerisurv.com/2023/08/12/monuments-going-up-in-smoke/ and his white pages by emailing him: https://quartaroli.com/) , detailing the problematic nature of intensive wildfires destroying homes, and then clean-up efforts destroying all monuments prior to re-construction. If prior to bulldozing sites, surveyors could locate and preserve monuments, it would save communities a great deal of money in the long run as survey costs would be reduced due to easier surveys. Hazmat Surveying might just be the future for some surveyors willing to do some training. Hopefully the importance of this need is recognized the next time a disaster occurs.