 |
 |
|
|
SURVEYING THE FUTURE
|
|
The huge variety of projects that senior
professional land surveyor Ken Snowball has had to
deal with while working for the City of Cape Town
range from measuring swimming pools for
international competitions where the lengths have to
be determined to the millimeter, to wading through
the bustling crowds in the Golden Acre underground
shopping Centre armed with a Total Station in order
to determine whether erven boundaries coincided with
the positions of the shops.
|
|
Most recently he has been involved in a number of
cadastral projects entailing the subdivision of land
in existing housing schemes in order to make property
ownership possible. The projects have largely been
based in some of the poorer areas of the Western Cape
including Heideveld, Mannenberg, Mitchell’s Plain,
Delft and Belhar where the challenges of crime and
lack of existing infrastructure cannot be over-looked.
Ken’s benevolent approach is apparent as he describes
the many times he has had to assist people beyond the
scope of his job in settling boundary disputes and
facilitating the Government's housing allocation
processes.
“Typically a four-room unit house has had to be
divided into two two-room units with an added toilet
facility and in some cases these plots, which are no
more than 3m wide and located in a semi-detached
single storey building, are accommodating up to eight
families, not including back-yard tenants” explains
Ken. Where housing space is so
precious Ken’s work is vital to these families and Ken
clearly works hard to ensure the best outcome he can
for the people whose living conditions are far from
ideal.
Ken and his colleague Thomas Reiner are currently busy
with a pipe line project that stretches from the
Western Side of the Tygerberg Hills down to the
Potsdam treatment works. The pipe line servitude will
eventually take treated sewerage water up to a
reservoir on the hills which can be used for
agricultural purposes.
The project contains some interesting challenges as
the pipe servitude runs directly through a number of
private properties and a new property development. In
addition an existing pipe line runs alongside the
servitude area and a detailed survey still has to be
completed in order to determine its validity. "A
private surveyor contracted by the land owner had
proposed that an extension of 4m would ensure that
both pipe lines fell within the servitude boundaries.
The City were then required to verify the legality of
this alteration which is where we became involved"
explains Ken.
|
 |
Personal |
 |
|
Ken Snowball
After completing his higher
diploma in Surveying 1985 while working at the
Trigonometrical Survey Office in Cape Town, Ken
decided he wanted to specialize in the cadastral
field and left his job in order to study for a
degree in Land Surveying. After completion of his
articles in 1997 Ken took up a position at the
City of Cape Town and is now a senior professional
land surveyor for the Property Management
Division.
Ken is married and has two daughters. In his
leisure he is a keen runner and particularly
enjoys half marathons. More recently he has taken
up cycling. His family are also keen hikers and
campers. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Senior CAD operator Laura Brandt works closely with
the Survey team and uses AllyCAD to prepare diagrams
where necessary for the surveyors. AllyCAD is the
ideal tool to assist with the distance and bearing
dimensions required for survey applications and plans.
“I find AllyCAD easy to use and a pleasure to work
with and there’s always more functionality available
as I need it” notes Laura.
Surveying the future of his role at the City of Cape
Town Ken acknowledges that it is a mixed bag. "While
rates and water and other services bring in a direct
income to the City, our services are often given a
lower profile as they are not directly revenue
generating. This, together with the fact that posts
have not been refilled following recent resignations
has results in an increasing trend to outsource much
of the land surveying operations." he observes. While
the allocation process may change the desperate need
for experienced Land Surveyors in the process of
meeting national housing demands remains, and Ken is
upbeat about the vital role he plays and clearly still
loves the associated variety and challenges.
|
|
|
Last Updated:
September 20, 2007
|
|
|
 |
