A volumetric survey answers a deceptively simple question — how much material is here? — with an auditable, accurate number. Survey House captures the surface of a stockpile, excavation, dump or open pit by laser scan, UAV or GNSS, depending on access and the accuracy required, and computes the volume against a reference surface or design.
For open-cast operations this is the heart of survey reconciliation. The original ground is surveyed before any work starts to fix the Original Ground Level (OGL) baseline; successive surveys are then compared against OGL to quantify what has been moved and reconcile mined volumes for planning and payment. Scanning an open pit also removes the old hazard of a surveyor working close to the pit edge.
Stockpiles are notoriously hard to measure by hand: uneven surfaces, changing angles of repose and unsafe footing make manual methods slow and imprecise. Capturing the surface remotely is faster, safer and more accurate, and produces a repeatable record that stands up to audit.
Surfaces are captured by GNSS, total station, laser scanning or aerial capture, then compared to derive volume. Method is chosen against stockpile size, access, safety and required accuracy.
The most common source of dispute is not the survey. Survey volume is geometric; declared tonnage applies a bulk density conversion that varies with material, compaction and moisture.
Comparing surfaces captured by different methods, or at different point densities, introduces error that neither surface shows on its own. Where volumes are commercially significant, method should be kept consistent between epochs.
