Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and, from these monuments, the surveyor is able to calculate the precise location
of the remaining monuments. A second trip to the field should then determine
whether or not the remaining monuments are still in existence.
11.4 Diligence in Finding Monuments
Boundary surveyors have an ethical obligation to be diligent in finding original
monuments. During a retracement survey, the surveyor must find the original mon-
uments used or set by the original surveyor. When performing the survey of a par-
cel on a public or private way, the surveyor must find monuments which establish
the location of the way.
Boundary surveyors have an ethical obligation to be diligent in finding origi-
nal monuments.
Finding monuments is oftentimes difficult. If the original survey is an old one,
some monuments will have probably been destroyed. Others may be found dis-
turbed, making their original locations uncertain. Monuments are destroyed or
disturbed through natural causes and by human activity. Wooden stakes rot over
time. Iron pipes and rebars rust through. Stone and concrete bounds get run over
and broken off by snow plows and heavy equipment. Drill holes in walls become
disturbed as the stones in walls move by the action of frost and by trees and limbs
falling on the walls. People sometimes take stones from a wall to use in a con-
struction project, not knowing a stone contained a boundary marker. Some monu-
ments get covered over by fill or by deposition from flooding. Monuments along
shorelines become disturbed or lost as a result of erosion and moving ice sheets.
Earthquakes, such as transform faults, cause locations on the earth's surface to
shift taking boundary markers along with it.
In the future, we can probably expect boundary markers to become more sub-
ject to destruction than in the past. As climate change causes more severe weather,
sea levels will rise causing encroachment along water boundaries. Hurricanes and
tornados will become more severe and more frequent. The high winds and water
associated with these events will take their toll on boundary markers. So will the
clean-up efforts by municipalities and government agencies. When equipment
operators are working under stress in order to save lives, prevent injuries and pro-
tect property, being careful to avoid hitting a not-too-visible boundary marker is
probably not high on their list of priorities.
One way to help preserve boundary locations is to use GPS to tie boundary corners
into state plane coordinate systems. It should not be supposed, however, that the use
of state plane coordinate systems eliminates the need for setting permanent markers on
site. It merely makes re-establishment of lost markers easier than it would be without it.
