Boundary Survey

Background

Boundary surveys are the foundation of land ownership and development. When a property changes hands, gets subdivided, or has a disputed line, a licensed surveyor is called in to establish — and legally document — exactly where those lines are.

This project involved assisting a licensed land surveyor on a rural residential parcel in the NC Piedmont. The job included field traverse work, monument recovery, and translating raw field data into a finalized plat drawing.

What the Work Involved

Field work started with a title search review to understand the deed calls — the written legal description of the property's bounds. From there, we set up a traverse using a total station, shooting angles and distances between control points to close the loop around the parcel.

Monument recovery was a big part of the day — locating old iron pipes, concrete corners, and rebar set by previous surveyors. Where monuments were missing or disturbed, we reestablished them based on deed calls and adjacent parcel ties.

Key Details

• Traverse closed to within 1:15,000 linear accuracy — well within NC minimum standards for a Class A survey.
• Recovered 6 of 8 original corner monuments; 2 reestablished from deed calls and tie shots.
• All coordinates referenced to NC State Plane NAD 83 (2011) using GPS control.
• Final plat drafted in AutoCAD with all bearings, distances, curve data, and monument descriptions.
• Plat submitted to the county register of deeds as part of a property transfer.

Field Photos

Outcomes

Survey completed and plat finalized within three weeks of the initial field day. The plat was recorded with the county and used to facilitate a clean property transfer. This project sharpened my understanding of traverse math, NC surveying statutes, and the process of going from raw field measurements to a legally binding document.