Surveyors

[MicroPilot]

I've been considering changing professions and am interested in surveying. What kind of education and/or certifications are required to make surveying a career? Do surveyors usually work for themself or are they employed by construction, real eastate, government? What kind of salary could one expect doing survey work?

 

[RonL]

MicroPilot

I am not a surveyor so I cannot give you definitive answers. You may want to consult with a local technical college. Members that are surveyors will probably answer up and give you the benefit of their experience.

RonL

 

[Currmudgeon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( When survey and plat/deed shows 100 feet and the line is up a slope, how is that land measured when the bulldozers finish leveling the area? )</font>

Survey measurements are always on the level. For platting, it is assumed to be a plane. So the survey distances are always the same, regardless of the slope distance.

This causes some issues when large surveys are compared with GPS, because GPS works on a spheroid.

 

[Currmudgeon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( how it was done with the old manual tools, is the question. )</font>

For gently sloping land, the chainmen (They're chainmen and are chaining even if they use a steel tape) hold the chain level, and drop the measureements to the ground with plumb bobs. If the elevation difference is over the chainman's head, they "break chain" chaining out from contact with the ground to as far as the chainman can reach. He then "Breaks" the chain there, holding that measurement and dropping it to the ground. The other chainman moves ahead and repeats. You do this until you're out of slope. It introduces lots of errors.

You can also chain along the slope, measure the vertical angle with an Abney level (A hand held gizmo with a scope, a bubble, and a protractor) and correct mathematically. Many Abneys have a scale that does the trig directly and just gives you a number to multiply the chain length by.

Modern Total Station instruments calculate the horizontal distance directly.

 

[Currmudgeon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Does a county or state line supersede any deed description that would disagree with the county or states interpretation of the line? )</font>

You can quitclaim any thing you like. If it is complicated, like the description is written to a County Line that is in dispute, bring in a surveyor to write a new legal description that does not reference the County Line, and both of you quit claim to that. For example, he might describe that part of the County line by metes and bounds, without ever saying it's the County Line.

The County Line may then move onto one of yor properties if they ever sort it out, but they may never bother to spend the money.

In the end, if no one can agree, and the third surveyor doesn't agree with the first two, it gets settled by the Court when you sue each other. Then someone gets to write yet another new legal description. That's expensive and seldom done, but it's the final resort.

You can sure a surveyor for errors and ommissions (i.e real mistakes like a mis-read angle). But differences in judgement are not generally actionable.

 

[Currmudgeon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( ...am interested in surveying. What kind of education and/or certifications are required to make surveying a career? )</font>

Check the site of the Board of Licensing for Engineers and land Surveyors in your state. The name varies from state to state. They'll have all the requirements.

One of the requirements is a certain amount of time (four years?) experience under a Registered Land Surveyor. You'll probablty start out as a rod man or a stake pounder and poison ivy catcher, and advance up to Instrument man or Party Chief depending on the firm.

Talk with some of the survey firms in your town.

You need to be a Registered Land Surveyor to seal and file plats, in other words to do land survey. You can do engineering survey, e.g. shoot topography or road cross sections without a license. Under those circumstances, you can't call yourself a "surveyor."

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> So if my deed calls for 100 feet and that line goes up a hill that rises at a 36.9 degree angle (assume that's the small angle in a 345 triangle) then my pins will be 125 feet apart when I pull a tape up the hill.

Is that correct? </font>

GotRocks,

Hope someone answers this question. That is my take on it, but I would like to hear someone confirm it.

I just read this thread start to finish...I don't think anyone answered you...if they did...well, I guess I will have to show my /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif face... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[MicroPilot]

I think Currmudgeon answered this in post 480572: </font><font color="blue" class="small">( Survey measurements are always on the level. For platting, it is assumed to be a plane. So the survey distances are always the same, regardless of the slope distance.)</font>

Time for a /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif?

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue">I think Currmudgeon answered this in post 480572: Time for a ? /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif </font>

Norris' question was;
<font color="green"> So if my deed calls for 100 feet and that line goes up a hill that rises at a 36.9 degree angle (assume that's the small angle in a 345 triangle) then my pins will be 125 feet apart when I pull a tape up the hill. Is that correct? </font>

Currmudgeon's answer, while correct, did not answer gotrock's question. I'd answer it, but I can't find my geometry book. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

P.S.
I went to this site, downloaded the calculator and confirmed that the 125 feet is correct, 125.0493 feet to be exact. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif