CHAPTER III. THE SURVEYOR'S DUTIES.

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It will be observed on reference to the list of the duties of the surveyor, given in the preceding chapter, that the first on the list is as follows:—

“To have charge of the repairs of all highways, and to perform all duties devolving on the council as surveyors of highways.”

The necessity for these duties are obvious when we turn to the Public Health Act 1875, and read the following sections:—[6]

“Every urban authority shall within their district, exclusively of any other person, execute the office of and be surveyor of highways, and have, exercise, and be subject to all the powers, authorities, duties, and liabilities of surveyors of highways under the law for the time being in force, save so far as such powers, authorities, or duties are or may be inconsistent with the provisions of this Act; every urban authority shall also have, exercise, and be subject to all the powers, authorities, duties, and liabilities which by the Highway Act 1835, or any Act amending the same, are vested in and given to the inhabitants in vestry assembled of any parish within their district.

“All ministerial acts required by any Act of Parliament to be done by or to the surveyor of highways may be done by or to the surveyor of the urban authority, or by or to such other person as they may appoint” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 144).

“All streets being or which at any time become highways repairable by the inhabitants at large within any urban district, and the pavements, stones, and other materials thereof, and all buildings, implements, and other things provided for the purposes thereof, shall vest in and be under the control of the urban authority. The urban authority shall from time to time cause all such streets to be levelled, paved, metalled, flagged, channelled, altered, and repaired as occasion may require; they may from time to time cause the soil of any such street to be raised, lowered, or altered as they may think fit, and may place and may keep in repair fences and posts for the safety of foot-passengers. Any person who without the consent of the urban authority wilfully displaces, or takes up, or who injures the pavement, stones, material, fences, or posts of, or the trees in, any such street shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and to a further penalty not exceeding five shillings for every square foot of pavement, stones, or other materials so displaced, taken up, or injured; he shall also be liable, in the case of any injury to trees, to pay to the local authority such amount of compensation as the court may award” (38 & 39 Vic. c. 55, s. 149).

The duties thus devolving upon the town surveyor by reason of these sections and the orders of the council are very considerable. The following table gives a list of the principal subjects which will require his attention; all of which will be considered in due course in this book.

List of Duties devolving upon a Town Surveyor as “Surveyor of Highways.”

(1.) The construction and maintenance of highways or streets, including—

(a.) Roads formed of broken stones or “metal,” commonly called macadamised roadways;

(b.) Streets paved with granite cubes or setts;

(c.) Streets paved with wood;

(d.) Streets paved with asphalte.

(2.) The construction and maintenance of footwalks or footpaths, including the different materials of which these are formed.

(3.) The breaking of stone for road metal.

(4.) Steam rolling.

(5.) The necessary notices and specifications under the 150th Section of the Public Health Act 1875, for the purpose of compelling private streets to be properly sewered, levelled, paved, metalled, flagged, channelled, lighted, and made good.

(6.) The lighting, cleansing, and watering of streets.

(7.) The naming and numbering of streets.

(8.) The planting of trees along the sides of footwalks.

(9.) Obstructions caused by builders’ rubbish or by hoardings and scaffold poles; and also by dangerous or defective cellar coverings.

(10.) The damage caused to footpaths by allowing water from private premises to flow over them, and the nuisance caused by defective rain-water gutters or shutes.

(11.) The damage caused to roadways by the laying or removal of gas and water mains and services, and the surveyor’s powers and duties in connection therewith.

(12.) The importance, especially in old towns, of laying down improved building lines of frontage in the narrower or crooked streets.

(13.) The examination of all plans of proposed new streets or buildings.

(14.) The supervision of all new streets and buildings whilst their construction is in progress.

(15.) Dealing with all buildings in a condition dangerous to the public.

Each of the foregoing list of duties will be dealt with in separate chapters in addition to other matters which will be treated, but before closing this chapter a few words upon the subject of “meetings” may be of use.

It will be observed upon reference to the list which I have given of the duties of the surveyor, that there is one which says, “To attend all meetings of the board, and committee meetings, except where his attendance has been previously dispensed with; to attend upon the chairman when so required.”

The result of this order is that a very large percentage of the surveyor’s time has to be devoted to attendances at long meetings of the Board or town council, and at the numerous committee and sub-committee meetings which are appointed under it.

This work is doubled where, as in some towns, the corporation and their committees sit in a dual capacity, viz. as the council proper, and the council as the urban sanitary authority; this generally involves two ordinary meetings of the whole body each month, and probably at least six committee meetings a week, leaving the surveyor but scanty time to look properly after his works.

With regard to these committee meetings it is necessary that each should have some distinguishing title descriptive of the class of work over which it has jurisdiction, and in selecting names for them the following list may be of some service:—Finance Committee, General Purposes Committee, Law and Parliamentary Committee, Surveyor’s Committee, Land and Estates Committee, Rates and Taxes Committee, Streets Committee, Lighting and Cleansing Committee, Navigation of Port Committee, Public Grounds Committee, Sanitary Committee, Drainage and Sewerage Committee, Markets Committee, Properties for Sale Committee, Works Committee, Water Committee, Gas Committee, Watch Committee, Health Committee, Library Museum and Arts Committee, Baths Committee, Parks, Gardens, and Improvement Committee, Streets Improvement Committee, etc. etc.

The surveyor should always endeavour to be punctual in his attendance at the council meetings and those of the committees, as to be late is always looked upon with disfavour. His reports should as much as possible be in writing, so that there should be no misunderstanding as to what his advice is on any subject. To save trouble and expense it is well that all drawings of new schemes should be first submitted to a committee in pencil, as they are frequently much altered; this is very vexing if they have been neatly and highly finished. It must not be forgotten that the gentlemen who form municipal bodies give their time gratuitously, and everything should be done to save it as much as possible. It is an excellent plan and a great convenience, if a surveyor will have a series of named and numbered pigeon holes in his office corresponding to his committees, in which to place all papers, drawings, correspondence etc., which he intends to bring up to the next meeting of a committee; thus saving himself flurry at the last moment before the meeting, in endeavouring to find the papers he wants. With his varied duties, correspondence, interviews, meetings, inspections, investigations, reports, drawings, and calculations, the motto of a surveyor’s office should be “method.”


[6] For full particulars and explanations of the various Highway Acts see ‘The Powers and Duties of Surveyors of Highways and of other Authorities with regard to the Management of the Public Highways,’ by Alex. Glen, M.A., etc.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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