boundary survey review - wikispaces survey review...boundary survey review ... clarified act of 1785...

IPLSA Fundamentals of Surveying Exam Review Seminar 2012 of 28

Boundary Survey Review

Surveying Instructions Timeline

1785: Land Act of May 20, 1785 (Northwest Ordinance) – established rules for Seven Ranges

1786: Land Act of 1786 - deleted requirement to run lines “by the true meridian”: later

reinstated

1788: Land Act of 1788 – required field notes and plats to be filed

1796: Act of 1796 – clarified Act of 1785 and specified 2 perch chain

1800: Act of March 1, 1800 – held that original corners are true corners even when erroneous

1800: Act of May 10, 1800 – provided for placing errors and convergence in the north and west

tiers of sections

(1803: Louisiana Purchase)

1804: Act of March 26, 1804 - provided for selling quarter sections

1805: Act of February 11, 1805 – last major statute law change to 1785 Act – for IN, IL and later

states

1811: Act of March 3, 1811 (Lousiana) – recognized French arpent tracts

1815: Tiffin’s Instructions – specialized instructions to clarify Acts of 1785, 1796, and 1805

1816: First known written instructions to deputy surveyors in Northwest Territories (Tiffin)

1817: Mississippi Territory instructions by John Coffee

1819: Freeman Instructions, by Surveyor General of the Public Lands South of the State of

Tennessee

1820: Act of April 24, 1820 - provided for selling half-quarter sections (80 acres)

1824: Tiffin – specified use of guide meridians and standard parallels

1832: Act of April 5, 1832 – provided for selling quarter-quarter sections (40 acres)

1846: Instructions of 1846 – specified limited use of solar compass in lieu of magnetic compass

1851: Oregon Manual of 1851 – incomplete 1855 manual: published without figures

1855: Instructions to the Surveyors General of Public Lands – first complete Manual

1862: Statute law (2399, R.S.) requiring 1855 Manual in all contracts

1902: Manual of 1902 – magnetic compass phased out


Write a combination legal description for

the shaded parcel using aliquot parts

elements and metes and bounds elements.

The point of commencement will be the

point of beginning shown below.

The quarter corner between Sections 15 and 16 is found to be 40.28 chains from the corner

common to Sections 9, 10, 15, and 16. At what distance along this line should the quarter-

quarter corner be set for subdividing Section 15? Please explain.


Read Chapters 1 & 2 of Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles and answer these

questions.

Explain the differences between land rights and land ownership.

Where might a person have rights without having ownership? Explain.

In a boundary dispute, what are the roles of each of these parties: the land surveyor, the attorney

and the courts?

How are boundary lines and property lines different?

When does a boundary line become a property line?



questions.

What is the purpose of title insurance?

What is a lien?

Define eminent domain in your own words.

If, after you have completed a survey, you have discovered additional boundary evidence, how

will the survey be affected?

What is the presumed order of importance of resurvey evidence? List the types of evidence in

descending order of importance.

Whose decision is it to initiate a corrective deed: the surveyor or the attorney? State your

reasoning.

Which federal agency is the primary agency responsible for disposing of public domain lands?

Explain color of title in your own words.



questions.

What is the difference between a point of commencement and a point of beginning?

You have completed a resurvey of a parcel for which the description gave distance

measurements in chains and links. Is it acceptable to revise the description to express the

distances in decimal feet for clarity? Explain your reasoning.

When a surveyor is analyzing survey evidence, which evidence carries more weight: lines on the

ground or directions/distances shown on a plat?

What is declination? How is it relevant to retracing an ancient survey created with a magnetic

compass?

When did federal law first specify the use of standard parallels and guide meridians?

When did federal law first specify that convergence errors be accumulated in the western and

northern sections of a township?


Write a metes and bounds legal description for the 2.156 acre parcel shown here. The point of

commencement will be the northwest corner of Section 29.


How is the center of a regular section (i.e. SW corner of NE ¼) established?

What is a patent as it pertains to land transactions?

What is historically significant about the Seven Ranges?

What change in marking land corners did F.D. Newcomb propose and why? What general

lesson should the present-day surveyor learn from Newcomb’s experience?

Why was the magnetic compass phased out for running meridianal lines? How has its use

affected the work of present-day surveyors?



questions.

Explain the concepts of dominant and servient parcels as they pertain to easements.

What is the main weakness of an easement worded as “a 50 foot strip of land centered on the

underground pipeline”?

What three parcel descriptions affect the

identification and location of any easement?

In the sketch at right, label the dominant parcel and

the servient parcel

There are no other known easements affecting Lots 1 & 2

shown here. Explain the problem caused by the driveway.


In southwestern Illinois, you have started a survey of the line between and ancient French arpent

grant and GLO-surveyed land. It is found that the GLO-surveyed sections encroach on the

French grant land. To whose favor shall the encroachment be resolved? Summarize the guiding

principle which supports your choice.

In the subdivision shown below, streets were never built on the right-of-ways for Vorcey Drive,

Condit Lane and Grove Street. Landowners are indicated on each lot of the subdivision. The

local municipality has elected to vacate the right-of-way for the streets listed above. Please draw

a sketch of the land that each landowner will gain. Show dimensions on each sketch and

calculate the area in acres of each gained tract. Attach sheets as needed.


These two legal descriptions attempt to describe the same parcel. See the sketch of this

parcel on the next sheet.

Centerline description:

A strip of land 80 feet wide, being forty feet on both sides of

the following described survey of centerline;

Beginning at engineer’ station 74+34.27 which is a point on the

west line of the SW 1/4 of Sec. 15, T46N, R12E, 3rd PM, Lake County,

Illinois a distance of 1222.6 feet southward of the north line of said

quarter section, thence N34°30’E a distance of 306.98 feet to the P.C.

of a curve of radius 1145.92 feet (1 angle. 47°30'R) thence a distance

of 950.00 along circular arc to the P.T. (Sta. 86+91.25) of said curve,

thence N82°00'E a distance of 310.65 feet to a point (Sta. 90+01.90)

along west right-of-way line of State Aid Route 25 as recorded in

Doc. No. 37L2.

Said tract contains 2.88 acres.

Metes and Bounds description;

Commencing at a point 1152.0 feet south of the NW corner of the

SW 1/4 of Sec. 15, T46N, R12E, 3rd PM, Lake County, Illinois and on the

west line of said quarter section, thence on a bearing of N34°30'E for

a distance of 248.8 feet, thence on a curve to the right of radius

1185.9 feet for a distance of 983.1 feet, thence on a bearing of

N82°00’E for a distance of 320.7 feet, thence on a bearing of S6°00’W

along the west right-of-way line of State Aid Route 25 for a distance

of 82.4 feet, thence on a bearing of S82°00’W for a distance of 300.7

feet, thence on a curve to the left of radius 1105.9 feet for a distance

of 916.8 feet, thence on a bearing of S34°30'W for a distance of 365.2

feet to the west line of said quarter section, thence due north along

this line for a distance of 141.2 feet to the point of beginning.

Which of these descriptions is erroneous? Explain your reasoning.


The quarter section shown below has these coordinates.

Point N E

A 3121.51 4203.35

D 3035.60 6826.96

M 1764.07 5459.59

X 4393.02 5570.72

1. There is a lone wood post near the center of this quarter section. Its position is N

3075.95, E 5521.52. Find its perpendicular offsets from line MX and line AD.

2. Find the coordinates at L. Point L is the intersection of line MX and line AD.

3. Find the coordinates of Points R & Q. The dimensions given are measured parallel to

line MX and line AD.

4. Find the coordinates of Point F.



questions.

What is the purpose of a meander line?

Explain in your own words the concept of avulsion. Illustrate your explanation with an example.

Explain in your own words the concept of accretion. Illustrate your explanation with an

example.

Explain in your own words the concept of reliction. Illustrate your explanation with an example.

What is the difference between a lost corner and an obliterated corner?

How is a retracement different from a resurvey? How are they related?

Explain in your own words how single proportionate measurement is used in resurveys.


Make a list of the types and locations of corners in the rectangular land survey system which can

be reestablished using single proportionate measurement. Hint: see the principles listed on

pages 246 – 250.

The east line of Section 6 in Township Y North, Range X East, was recorded as 78 chains 65

links long in the original government field notes. The distance from southeast section corner to

east quarter corner is shown as 40 chains. The east quarter corner is lost and you must reset it

by single proportionate measurement. You have measured 5221.57 feet between the northeast

and southeast section corners. At what distance north of the southeast corner will you reset the

east quarter corner?

When restoring a lost corner along a township line, why is single proportionate measurement

used instead of double proportionate measurement?

Principle 13C states, “Primary weight is given to distance, not to angle or bearing.” Why is this

so?

What is a closing section? Explain carefully.


You have attempted to locate the boundary of the Hoggard tract. The deed bearings were

originally established by magnetic compass. You have done thorough research of original and

current declination to reproduce the deed directions on the ground. The end of the first course

from the point of

beginning calls for

an “iron spike set

in a hole drilled in

the foot of the

limestone bluff”.

You have found

the original iron

spike, but the

course from the

POB to the spike

differs significantly

from your

recreated deed

directions. Where

is the true corner;

at Point A or at

Point B? Cite the

principle that

guides your

decision.


Double Proportionate Measurement



questions.

Portions of the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 18, Township 18 North,

Range 10 East of the Third Principal Meridian have been conveyed as follows:

August 19, 1930: R. Campbell sold the north 15 acres of the NE ¼ of the SW ¼, Sec

18, T18N, R10E, 3rd

P.M. to A. Hoggard.

December 7, 1954: R. Campbell sold the east 10 chains of the south 25 acres of the NE

¼ of the SW ¼, Sec 18, T18N, R10E, 3rd

P.M. to E. Decker.

March 13, 1958: R. Campbell sold the west 10 chains of the south 25 acres of the

NE ¼ of the SW ¼, Sec 18, T18N, R10E, 3rd

P.M. to T. Matesevic.

Your survey has revealed the measurements shown in the sketch below.

Sketch the boundary of each parcel on the sketch below.

Show parcel dimensions.

Find the area of each parcel

Summarize the principles that guided your analysis.


The section corner indicated in the sketch below has been destroyed. No monument tie record

exists for the point. However, you have plats for the subdivision and farm survey shown. Is the

section corner lost or is the section corner obliterated? How should it be reset? Summarize the

principles that guided your analysis.


Your client has purchased two parcels described as follows:

Tract A: Lot 1 and the west 33 feet of Lot 2, Block 4; and

Tract B: Lot 3 and the east 33 feet of Lot 2, Block 4.

You have surveyed that block and found the dimensions shown on the diagram below.

Your survey has a revealed a problem in the legal description. What is it? Explain your

reasoning and illustrate your answer with a neat sketch. State the principles that control your

choices.


The west line of Champion Street has only the monuments shown above. What is the length of

the east line of Lot 6, Block 9? State the principles that control your choices.

What is the frontage of each of Lots 7, 8, 9, and 10 in Block 8? State the principles that control

your choices.

What is the width of Lot 6, Block 5, along Garden Avenue? State the principles that control your

choices.



questions.

You own the entirety of Lots 2 and 3 of Block 7 in the XYZ Subdivision. Your surveyor wants

to write a metes and bounds description for your two lots based on his measurements. Is this a

good idea or a bad idea? Explain your reasoning.

Lot 8, shown below, is to be divided into the easterly half and the westerly half of the lot.

Clearly show the direction of the dividing line on the drawing below. (You do not have to

calculate the exact east-west position of the line.)

Lot 10, shown above, is to be divided into the east half and the west half of the lot. Clearly show

the direction of the dividing line on the drawing above. (You do not have to calculate the exact

east-west position of the line.)

Computer software applications enable us to generate legal descriptions automatically from CAD

data. What are the dangers in trusting software to create such descriptions?


Landowner Green owns all of Block 20. She wants to sell everything west of Line A to another

party. Will this legal description convey the land satisfactorily? Lot 1, Lot 10, the west one-half

of Lot 2, and the west one-half of Lot 9. Explain the reasoning for your answer.


You have performed a resurvey of this parcel, and you have discovered the positions of the

structural features shown below relative to the parcel boundary lines. Should all this information

be presented on the plat? Explain the reasons for your answer.


Your client, Mr. East, intends to subdivide his land, the NE ¼ of the NW ¼ shown below. 10

years ago, a local surveyor, Mr. Plumb, created a plat of subdivision for Ms. West in the NW ¼

of the NW ¼ . Mr. Plumb reset the missing northwest corner of the section by double

proportionate measurement and then set the quarter-quarter corner at point B by single

proportionate measurement. You now have evidence that led you to discover the original

section corner at point C thus enabling you to set point D at the quarter-quarter corner.

However, several surveyors more experienced than you have used points A and B as the basis for

other adjoining surveys. Should you accept points A and B as the land corners since they have

been accepted and used by other surveyors? Explain the reasons for your answer.


Two years ago, in a survey of Tract 1 in the northwest quarter of fractional section 5, you

accepted points 20 and 21 as the basis for your analysis. These points were set over 30 years ago

by a prominent, well-respected surveyor, Mr. Cannon. In a recent court-ordered boundary

survey of the adjoining parcel to the east, another surveyor found points 20 and 21 to be

erroneous. The corrected line created an encroachment of over 10 feet by a large commercial

building, and there is legal action pending regarding this encroachment. Will you have any

liability as a result of the courts’ findings?


Plot this legal description on the plat information provided here. Show appropriate dimensions

on your sketch.

Lots 7, 8, and 9, and the east 8 feet of Lot 10; and the entirety of the vacated alley north of and

adjacent to Lots 7, 8, and 9, and the east 8 feet of Lot 10; and the south 18 feet of Lots 4, 5, and

6, and the south 18 feet of the east 8 feet of Lot 3; all in Block 12 of the original town of Snake

Ridge, Champaign County, Illinois.

Calculate the area of the parcel you plotted in Problem 1. Assume right angles. Express your

answer in acres (nearest hundredth of an acre) and square feet (nearest whole square foot).


These lots corners are intended to be collinear. Find the station and offset of points B and C

relative to line A-D. Point A is at station 0+00.

What is the approximate width (in the east-west direction) in feet of the east 7 acres of the S ½,

NW ¼, SE ¼, Sec 3, T20N, R10E, 3rd

P.M.?

Which method would you use to reset an obliterated standard corner at the southeast corner of

Section 34: single proportionate measurement or double proportionate measurement? Explain

your reasoning and identify the chapter and principle that guides your decision.

Point Northing Easting

A 3581.85 1095.60

B 3576.59 1167.36

C 3566.38 1311.17

D 3555.84 1454.66

boundary survey review - wikispaces survey review...boundary survey review ... clarified act of 1785...

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