Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 12
Field Work—Traversing
Boundary surveying often makes use of a traverse, particularly for larger parcels.
One might imagine that the easiest way to survey a parcel of land would be to set
the instrument on one property corner, point the telescope to a previous corner,
turn the record angle and measure the record distance to set the next corner then
repeat the procedure for each successive property corner.
and “D” were in existence and the client wished a surveyor to set the remaining
corners “B” and “C” which were lost because of some excavating in the area. A
surveyor would set the instrument at property corner “A”, point the telescope at
corner “D” then turn the angle 98°40′35″ and measure the distance 141.42 feet to
set corner B. The surveyor would then set the instrument at corner “B”, point the
telescope at corner “A” then turn the angle 104°08′14″ and measure 121.63 feet
to set corner C. As a check, a thorough surveyor would then set the instrument on
corner C and repeat the procedure to see how close he came to corner D. The dif-
ference between the point so set and the original corner “D”, the error of closure,
would tell the surveyor if the lot closure was acceptable.
In reality, the surveying technique just described is rarely possible or even
desirable. In many cases, property lines are where people plant shrubs, trees, build
walls and fences and sometimes pile junk to get it out of the way. These property
line enhancements make it unlikely that a surveyor would be able to see or meas-
ure along the property lines. Even in cases where it would be possible, features
such as crumbling stone walls make it dangerous to attempt to walk on the wall.
In many cases, property lines are where people plant shrubs, trees, build
walls and fences and sometimes pile junk to get it out of the way. These
property line enhancements make it unlikely that a surveyor would be able
to see or measure along the property lines.
