Walker Texas Surveyors, Inc. — Cedar Park
Walker Texas Surveyors, Inc. — Cedar Park
By Katherine Kennedy Monday, 07 May 2007
Surveyors gather land data for development
Karen and Chuck Walker are in good professional company. Having begun Walker Texas Surveyors, Inc. in 1999, the Walkers joined ranks with three of the four American icons immortalized on Mount Rushmore; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln were all surveyors, Chuck said.
Karen, president and CEO, handles the administrative side of running a small business while Chuck, vice president, deals with the technical and physical aspects of surveying.
WTS focuses on the design topographic of transportation projects and municipal infrastructures, meaning that they collect all the data architects and engineers need for the construction of things like highways and water lines. They were a part of projects including Toll 130 and the New Hope water line.
“We appreciate the development in our area and enjoy being here during a time of such diversity and growth,” Karen said. “Helping build transportation is important to our community, and we are trying to be a part of the solution to our transportation problem.”
Although surveyors are very visible — working along roads and wearing reflective safety vests — many people have no idea what exactly a surveyor does, Chuck said.
Most of surveying work can be broken into two categories: conveyance of property and design topographic, which is WTS’ main line of work. Surveying for the conveyance of property entails measuring and mapping land involved in a sales transaction so both parties are clear on exactly what is being bought and sold.
The tools to surveying include a device called a digital total station, which is connected to a hand-held computer and uses a laser to measure distances within an eighth of an inch. Surveyors measure horizontal distances, meaning square feet, and vertical distances, meaning any rise or fall in the height of the land.
All horizontal distances are measured as if the land was flat, Chuck said, meaning that a person who owns one acre of hilly land actually has more surface area than someone who owns one acre of flat land.
Once the information is gathered, it is downloaded to software that allows the surveyor to map the land. The technology is amazing, Chuck said, and getting more so daily with the integration of satellite-gathered data.
A surveyor since he graduated from high school in 1978, Chuck’s love for the outdoors brought him to the profession.
“The Texas climate is enjoyable and I really like the diversity of surveying,” Chuck said. “I am fortunate to be able to go anywhere in a 200-mile radius of Cedar Park.”
Historical Surveying Tidbits
- George Washington made field sketches even while fighting the Revolutionary War.
- Thomas Jefferson’s appointments of surveyors as Secretary of State and President shaped the nation and the settlement of the frontier.
- While learning the trade, Abraham Lincoln’s intense study of surveying often lasted through the night. Friends told him he was killing himself.
Karen, president and CEO, and Chuck Walker, vice president, of Walker Texas Surveyors, Inc.
Walker Texas Surveyors, Inc., 200 E. New Hope Road, 259-3361
