Who came up with the term "Daylight"

[dansk_84]

This is just a query for my own personal interest. Im confused as to why AutoDesk uses the term "daylight" as a term for what i would concider earthworks or interface. The term makes no sense to me what so ever and after a fruitless search the internet for the originals of this term, i have come to the conclusion the term means nothing and AutoDesk just made it up. If im wrong and it is actually an engineering term I would like to be educated

Dan

[annw2]

Ok, someone older than me. It was always daylight where slope met the ground in the highway department of the engineering firm I started out in the mid 80's. It was taught by the retired ConnDOT engineer. It is a standard term for decades. Think of digging a hole. The intersection of the trench and the top would see the light of day or where the original ground surface under the road would again see the light of day.

[sboon]

I would bet that the term comes from the mining and tunneling industry.  If you're digging an air shaft or a tunnel to the surface then you cannot specify a distance or elevation on the design drawings.  The instruction to the contractor would be:

    Excavate in this direction at a specified slope/grade until you reach daylight.

Steve
Please use the Accept as Solution or Kudo buttons when appropriate

[AllenJessup]

Exactly. Shaft, Tunnel, pitch, whatever to Daylight. May be centuries old.

Allen

[fcernst]

[AllenJessup]

Excellent!

[fcernst]

I bet it was the Romans...who stole it from the Greeks...who stole it from the Egyptians.

[fcernst]

Yep...Egyptians...I had a feeling...

[Joe-Bouza]

No one "came up with it"

It is simply engineers using the english language as defined