FUNDAMENTAL SURVEYING Legal Descriptions, Boundary & Construction Surveying 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is 'adverse possession' and why is it relevant to boundary surveyors?
- Possession of survey equipment without a license
- A legal doctrine allowing a party to claim title by open, notorious, continuous use of land for a statutory period (Correct answer)
- The government's right to take land through eminent domain
- The process of correcting an erroneous deed description
Correct answer: A legal doctrine allowing a party to claim title by open, notorious, continuous use of land for a statutory period
Adverse possession can shift legal boundaries if a party has possessed land openly and continuously for the statutory period, so surveyors must be aware that occupation may not match deed lines.
Question 2: What is a 'cut' in construction staking?
- The removal of a survey pin during grading
- The depth of material to be excavated to reach design grade (Correct answer)
- The horizontal offset from the centerline stake to the slope stake
- A correction applied to GPS heights for geoid undulation
Correct answer: The depth of material to be excavated to reach design grade
A cut notation on a grade stake indicates how much material must be removed (excavated) from the existing ground to reach the design grade elevation.
Question 3: What is an 'as-built survey' (record survey)?
- A preliminary survey done before design begins
- A survey documenting the actual location of constructed improvements as they were built (Correct answer)
- A topographic survey of undeveloped land
- A boundary survey conducted by a county assessor
Correct answer: A survey documenting the actual location of constructed improvements as they were built
An as-built survey verifies and records the final positions of constructed features (buildings, utilities, roads) to confirm compliance with design plans.
Question 4: What does 'offset' mean in construction surveying?
- The error in a GPS position due to satellite geometry
- A reference stake placed at a known distance from the actual work point to protect it during construction (Correct answer)
- The vertical difference between design and existing grade
- The angle from the centerline to a property boundary
Correct answer: A reference stake placed at a known distance from the actual work point to protect it during construction
Offset stakes are set a fixed horizontal distance from the actual work location (e.g., 5 ft from the edge of curb) so they survive heavy equipment traffic.
Question 5: What is a 'centerline' survey in highway construction?
- A survey that measures the exact center of property parcels
- A control survey establishing the designed alignment of a road for staking construction (Correct answer)
- A topographic survey along the middle of a proposed corridor
- A hydrographic survey down the middle of a waterway
Correct answer: A control survey establishing the designed alignment of a road for staking construction
A centerline survey stakes the horizontal and vertical alignment of a proposed road, including tangent, curve, and spiral elements at regular intervals.
Question 6: In a horizontal curve for road design, what is the 'radius point'?
- The midpoint of the curve arc
- The geometric center of the circular curve, equidistant from all arc points (Correct answer)
- The tangent intersection point (PI)
- The point of curvature (PC) on the centerline
Correct answer: The geometric center of the circular curve, equidistant from all arc points
The radius point (center of the circle) is equidistant from every point on the circular arc and is used to compute curve geometry.
FUNDAMENTAL SURVEYING Legal Descriptions, Boundary & Construction Surveying 2
What is 'adverse possession' and why is it relevant to boundary surveyors?