Sustainable Land Development Today - June 2008 - (Page 40)

uments. They have no prestige because of their age. Since the surveyor must establish the relative position of the exterior corners of the section, and most often they are not intervisible, some method must be used that will allow measurement indirectly. The surveyor occupies each “station” (point) of the random traverse and with surveying instruments measures the horizontal distance to the adjoining points and the angle between them. Once each station in the traverse has been occupied and measured, calculations are made relating each individual point to all others, and a coordinate is established for each station. The precision of the measurements in the traverse is calculated and the error is the “closing” error. Since no measurement can be made with absolute precision, there is always some mathematically determinable error. Closing is the term applied to the precision and accuracy with which the measurements are made. The most common methods used are compass rule, transit rule, or least squares. Once this adjustment is complete, the relative positions of both the section corners and quarter corners and the random traverse points are known. By calculation all of the sub divisional parts of the section can be determined according to the rules of surveying as provided for by the federal statutes. This then allows calculation of the corners of the property being surveyed and the relative positions of those corners compared to the random traverse points. Once this has been done, it is a relatively simple matter to stake the property by running from the random traverse points to the property corners. Often, the surveyors’ clients will see the surveyors working a goodly distance from the target property and wonder why. They might wonder what in the world they are doing so far from the actual property and the answer in most cases is that they are trying to establish or reestablish the horizontal control and are conducting a random traverse to do so. Once a random traverse has been established within a section or other government allocation, then that traverse can be used again and again, as long as the points are not disturbed or destroyed. Landowners and land development professionals should recognize this and discourage disturbance of these points, because they directly impact the work of the surveyor and thereby the cost. For the same reason, it is often true that several ad joining tracts of land can be surveyed on a much more economic (on a per-tract) basis than just one piece. It is also the reason why the initial survey in any given section is more expensive than following surveys in most instances. While the liability of the surveyor does not appreciably change, the costs involved in actually accomplishing the survey are noticeably decreased upon establishment of horizontal control by random traverse. The corners of the property can be marked using any number of different materials. Since the expense in establishing the corners is significant, it seems to us that the corners should be marked by something that is durable and recoverable, although it is amazing how many of the surveyor’s clients tend to scrimp at this stage. The cost per corner differential between a durable monument and something less is relatively small, so it seems logical to go with the best possible markers. Property corners are typically marked by: I Wood stakes I Re-bar I Iron pipes I Concrete monuments I Aluminum monuments The least durable of these is the wood stake. They tend to rot (depending on the climate) within a few years and are gone. The best of the lot is probably the aluminum marker. These are very durable, and although they are not ferrous material, they can be located by a metal detector. They normally have implanted magnets in them to circumvent this drawback and actually provide better detector response. The aluminum monuments are durable, difficult to remove from the ground, and the surveyor likes them because of their lightweight and hence portability. This is obviously a tremendously simplified overview of the general nature of a cadastral survey. Clearly, many, many complications arise during the typical survey, and 98% will not be as simple as the situation described here. However, the general procedure is always the same: find the controlling corners (original or perpetuated), establish horizontal control by random traverse, calculate the relationship of the property boundaries to the horizontal control, and set the corners of the property in question. Most states now require that once a cadastral (property) survey has been conducted, that the surveyor place a map on the public record disclosing said survey. This is a valuable aid in perpetuating the survey of the lands, as it discloses a historical record of survey data. Up until the time such statutes were enacted, much valuable survey data was lost simply because of the lack of such publicly recorded information. There are of course, many different types of surveys performed by the practicing surveyor. In addition to cadastral (property) surveys, they are called upon to conduct topographic surveys, construction surveys, control surveys, hydrographic surveys, serve as expert witnesses, and provide a host of other related services. SLDT About the author: Dan Beardslee, P.L.S. is a practicing land surveyor in Washington State, licensed as a professional since 1975. He has been surveying for 35 years. He is the President of Beardslee Land Surveying Services. Dan has authored many articles and has authored books about land surveying, including “A Business Management Handbook for Land Surveyors” and “Land Surveying for the Landowner and Real Estate Professional.” 40 June 2008 Sustainable Land Development Today

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Sustainable Land Development Today - June 2008

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