I always see these guys standing at the side of a road with these

>>16198806
They're surveyors.

>Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is called a land surveyor.

measuring the contours of the ground/whatever they're working on, checking that everything's level, stuff like that

>>16198806
Have you ever considered to look at the picture's name and search up what it is?
Jesus Christ

>>16198806
they're peering into the 4th dimension bra

>>16198806
Well the guys in that pic are concreters and they are measuring the depth of that hole.

>>16198806
You have to find contours before you can design roads, sidewalks, even parks for that matter. Things are changing, laser scanning and drones will make the classic method of surveying outdated and inefficient.

>>16198824
4th dimension tiddys, fuck ya

>>16198806
They are surveying an area to determine grade heights, feature locations, etc. to produce a site plan or topographical map. The reason you don't see any work being done is because this has to be done before construction to allow for proper planning & layout of the work.

>>16198806
>I'm assuming it's for construction but whenever I see them use it there's no construction going on.

You may find multiple surveys done by different companies PRIOR TO A PROJECT BID. That is because companies might not only satisfy the bid requirements, but may do additional surveys in order to also crosscheck other information for drainage and non-interference costs.