working with survey files

We work from time to time with a couple of surveyors to generate subdivision
plats. The local Borough review board is now requiring that a point list, a
legal description, and closure information is provided when the plat is
submitted. I am looking for a small, cheap or free program which can import
an ascii file and will produce a legal description and point list. If
possible, something which will provide closure information as well. I am not
trying to practice surveying, just offer an additional service to my
surveyor (who is not very computer literate). Does anyone have any
suggestions.
For drafting, we are running Autocadd 2002. We have Eagle Point at the
office, but this is for a side business, and I cannot afford Eagle Point yet
at home.
TIA
Steve

 

In a previous post Steve Wells says...

The surveyor should be able to provide this information from his/her
calculations for point location and closure information. If you start
generating this stuff then you are practicing surveying and are probably
breaking the law. You can draw it, but you can't compute it.

 

In a previous post R.K. McSwain says...

If it is a recorded plat, yes. At least in Washington State.

 

I guess in the $100 to $200 range. By small, I mean I am looking for
something along the lines of a lisp routine or something, or maybe an excell
spreadsheet or something which will simply generate a table of the point
coordinates, the bearing and distance between each set of shots, and the
final closure. I am not looking for something to draw up the plat, or to do
DTM work, etc. I'm not looking for anything "big" like Eagle Point or LDD,
just a simple routine.
I may have to quit being lazy (find the time between one full time job and a
second part time) and try to write my own..... If I end up going that way,
or if I find something along the way, I could re-post it here.

 

In a previous post Steve Wells says...

Steve:

I guess I'm still at a loss as to why your surveyor can't provide this
information. He had to have generated it when he computed the lot
lines. He did compute the lot lines didn't he?

 

Interesting. So if "Surveyor A" in Wash. State wants to open up shop, either

1) He must do all the calcs/drafting work
-or-
2) He must hire a LS to do all the calcs/drafting work.
But either way, an LS must do all the drafting work?

In a large company, that would mean you would need a lot of LS's on
staff. Seems kind of silly. But who am I to question the state of
Washington?

What sorts of methods are in place in WA to ensure that an LS calculates
the location of every monument for every plat?

Thanks.

 

In a previous post R.K. McSwain says...

That's not what I said. He must provide direct supervision of both
calcs and drafting before affixing his seal to the drawing. A plat
isn't "official" unless it's been approved by a surveyor. This approval
is indicated by affixing his seal.

So, a drafter and/or technician can work on a plat, it is just not
"official" until the surveyor says so. To my understanding the OP
wanted to file the plat with the local jurisdiction. The local
jurisdiction requires legal descriptions and "metes and bounds". This
work is typically done by surveyors.

The one question that has remained unanswered is how did the lot lines
get computed in the first place. Or did somebody just look at a drawing
then lay down some lines and then say we better write a legal for each
of these parcels. In most jurisdictions there are lot area requirements
and minimum dimension standards. Typically, only licensed professionals
are able to certify that the plat meets those requirements.

That's why you hire surveyors in the first place. In Washington State
to do any of the above is practicing surveying. To do so without a
license is breaking the law. People get hauled before the state license
board all the time for practicing surveying without a license.


Bob Morrison
R L Morrison Engineering Co
Structural & Civil Engineering
Poulsbo WA

 

All of this work is being done under the direct supervision of the LS. I'm
just trying to shortcut the effort of creating tables of info when he has
provided me a standard comma delimited point file.

We are only doing the drafting and layout work, the surveyor is the one who
will actually file the plat. As to the requirement for the meets and bounds,
this is for the boundary survey of the entire parcel, not for each
individual lot. Because one portion of the parcel is bounded by water, this
takes many survey shots. Because of the many shots, I wanted to automate the
generation of the bearing and distances into a table. The surveyor has
already reduced his raw data to a corrected data file. We have always done
this long-hand with the surveyor. I just wanted to build a better
mousetrap.....

The surveyor performed a boundary survey with topo shots. With the surveyors
assistance, a lot layout for the subdivision was generated. Yes, we the cadd
operators did most of this layout, under the guidelines of the governing
bodies. The layout is reviewed and approved (or modified) by the surveyor
prior to comlpetion.

I understand your concern for your profession, and that is why I am working
with a surveyor, not advertising to perform this work myself.

 

Actually, that IS what you said. Let me repost your words

</snip>

To me, that means that only a LS can generate coordinates for a plat.
Besides the fact that I asked a direct question as to whether an LS must
make all calculations - and you said YES.

I understand your final reply, but please understand that what you
originally wrote gives the wrong impression.

Many, many LS's sign and seal plats, metes and bounds, land title
surveys, etc. without ever stepping foot outdoors.

 

In a previous post R.K. McSwain says...

Okay. I went back and re-read my posts and you are correct. I
apologize for being a little too strident in my posts. However, I was
under the impression that the surveyor of record did his computations
and thus located all the points and developed the closure error.

I am still a little confused about why the surveyor cannot supply that
information. Certainly, the drafter can use the surveyor's information
to draw the plan. The way some of the questions were posted led me to
believe that the drafter was the one generating the points, not the
surveyor.

Again, I apologize for any misunderstanding.

 

In a previous post Steve Wells says...

Steve:

Thanks for your post. I now have a more clear understanding of what you
are trying to do.

Try this link for COGO software

http://www.pcsurvey.com/pc_survey.htm

The software looks like it will do what you need. There may be others
on the market. Try a Google search for COGO.

 

In New York, only a surveyor can prepare a plat, and the surveyor must
do the field survey. Why would any other entity take the risk of offering
work that is possibly incorrect. I doubt surveyors would take the work of
others without checking it. If it has to be checked, the surveyor might as
well do the work, without the double charge for it to the client.

 

Another inexpensive product that is well worth the money:
http://www.simsystems.com/

 

You could get the surveyor to give you his points file in text, and then
imprt them with a shareware program called POINTOR