ABSTRACT
Surveying has been meeting the needs of other professionals who need to know the position (co-ordinates) of terrain points for planning or execution of engineering products. The survey profession started with the advent of cartography, which needed ground positions for simple map making. The very primitive yet useful technology of plane-tabling remained the workhorse for the profession for almost 100-150 years. Various techniques of surveying which can support drilling boreholes most of the time are described. The co-ordinates of the borehole can be determined to the level of submetre accuracy. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a new and revolutionary technology in the surveying discipline. The basic concept of GPS, in its absolute simple form, can be compared to a basic survey operation called the 'resection method' in plane tabling, in which three or more ground control points are used for ascertaining the position of unknown station.
