Adam Hoffman Featured in Westfair Online as Land Surveying Expert

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For those who work in the land surveying or Civil Engineering business, it is common to hear of property boundary horror stories.  A boundary survey may be done wrong, or a topographical survey may contain an error.  These mistakes can lead to additional construction expenses, property line confusion, and even legal disputes.  This is why it is so important to do your research when it comes to land surveying companies.

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Why Do I Need a Land Survey?

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Land surveys are crucial to the process of responsible land development. They are commonly used to determine the boundaries and features of properties, to determine easements and encroachments, to develop or build on land, and to satisfy local building codes and regulations. There are many different types of land surveys. 

Property line disputes among neighbors are a common reason for land surveys, as are property sales and purchase contractual agreements. The American Land Title Association, the National Society of Professional Surveyors and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping regulate land surveying in the US and determine the specific criteria for land surveying. These include:

American Land Title Association Survey

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What is a Survey and why should I advise my clients to pay for one?

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What is a survey and why should I advise my clients to pay for one?

When we leave the grocery store most of us check our receipt to make sure we got what we paid for. When we buy cars we make sure we get all the options we paid for. But, when many people purchase real estate, they feel comfortable knowing “about” where the property lines are and “about” how much land is involved. The purchase of real estate is perhaps the biggest investment most of us will make. Deciding to protect that investment with a boundary survey is one of the wisest decisions your client can make. The following paragraphs explain in detail the steps necessary for producing an accurate survey that conforms to state statutes.

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Stuck on the Border: Surveying the US-Mexico Border

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There is one issue that seems to come up consistently when discussing the southern border of the United States – where does American end and Mexico start? Fences do line many areas of the border, but at other intersections of the land there is no barrier because of poor planning. Whether or not you agree with the idea of a fence lining our southern border, it must be understood that surveying this area of land is difficult and that many citizens find it hard to deal with.

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PHASE FOUR “KINGS WOOD” IN AVON

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Village Developers is currently continuing phase four of Kings Wood on Lofgren Road in Avon, CT with two houses.  Windsor court is also part of phase four which will connect to Scarborough Road. Godfrey-Hoffman & Hodge is providing the surveying and engineering services for this project. We have been working with Village Developers for many years and now that it seems the economy might be turning more new homes should be going up.

This phase was started a couple of years ago with surveying for the road which was roughed in. Catch basins were laid out and installed then the job was put on the back burner waiting for a better housing market.  With these first few houses it’s a positive sign, we will add more as we go.

Surveys Showing Need for Eco-Friendly Development

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Over the past decade or so, there has been a pronounced interest in the discussion about global warming and eco-friendly means of controlling it. Wherever you stand on the issue of global warming (seeing as it a big political hot button topic) I think we can all agree that we’d like to preserve the well being of the Earth as best as we can, so that future generations can enjoy it like we have. Interestingly enough, one recent land survey actually indicated that green development is one of the essential ways that we can make our environment more sustainable in the future.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a leading organization in the standards of land, property and construction, released the results of some land surveying that found that the land under our feet is being polluted at a faster rate than some would have us believe. The only way to maintain any sense of sustainability is to begin going green in all aspects of life.

There are many ways to help stop the pollution that is affecting the land. Here are a few ways to do so:

• Unplug your portable electronic chargers when not in use
• Buy eco-friendly rated appliances that save on overall electricity usage
• If you remove trees from your property, make sure to replant trees or other plants in their place.
• Turn off the water as often as possible when completing daily activities like washing dishes and brushing your teeth.

This kind of study sheds light on the importance of land surveying in the fight against pollution and other harmful environmental concerns. The depth with which surveyors can investigate particular swatches of land is crucial to the survival of our world and its atmosphere.

Types of Surveying Equipment

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We’ve all seen workers on the side of the road with tripods and strange looking tools near sites that will soon be excavated and built on. What these workers are doing is land surveying, which is simply defined as means to pinpoint the terrestrial and three-dimension elements of a particular area of land. So how do these surveyors complete their work quickly and efficiently? With the precise help of new surveying technology, the tools available to surveyors make the task of sharply defining points much faster and accurate.

In the past, the instruments used to survey land were simpler in design, but harder to use in practice. These included chains, solar compasses and compasses. For instance, chains with a specified size linkage would be used to measure distances from point to point, while compasses would determine the distance of that line.

As time progressed, newer technologies were developed to remove some of the manual calculations needed to progress with surveying. One such tool is called a planimeter – planimeters measure asymmetrical land eliminating the need for charts and manual calculations.

One of the main tools used by land surveyors today is a gadget that is also quite prominent in the lives (and cars) of millions of people – the GPS system. A GPS (or global positioning system) works with satellites that scan the earth from space and very accurately graph the view and transmit it into data to view on the small GPS or computer screen for surveyors to look at. The only downside to GPS systems is the difficulty they have reading land coordinates in dense forest area and the surroundings of concrete structures.

Of course, there are hundreds of other tools that land surveyors use on a regular basis, but these few examples should give you a good idea into how these people do their jobs.

TV Series on History: How the States got their Shapes

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How the states got their shapeIf you haven’t seen this already, it’s a great show on the History Channel called “How the States Got their Shapes”, and it is worth watching an episode.  Filled with interesting facts and interviews, the show focuses on a surveyor trying to re-trace the footsteps of the famous surveyors Mason & Dixon.  Click here for more information.

Stuck on the Border

Posted by Adam Hoffman on
There is one issue that seems to come up consistently when discussing the southern border of the United States – where does American end and Mexico start? Fences do line many areas of the border, but at other intersections of the land there is no barrier because of poor planning. Whether or not you agree with the idea of a fence lining our southern border, it must be understood that surveying this area of land is difficult and that many citizens find it hard to deal with.

That is, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, has become a major concern for people living on the border whose land has not been surveyed correctly:

“The Homeland Security Department last year put up a tall steel barrier across the fields from [Pamela] Taylor’s home. The government calls it the border fence, but it was erected about a quarter-mile north of the Rio Grande, leaving Taylor’s home between the fence and the river. Her two acres now lie on a strip of land that isn’t Mexico but doesn’t really seem like the United States either.”

The issue is one of security for Taylor, according to the article, but it’s also about knowing where her land lies.  With part of America and part of Mexico in her backyard, Taylor’s land is technically in a precarious no man’s land. This occurred because of poor planning by civil engineers and land surveyors.

“But here, where the border’s eastern edge meets the Gulf of Mexico, the urgency of national security met headlong with geographical reality. The Rio Grande twists through Brownsville and surrounding areas, and planners had to avoid building on the flood plain. So the barriers in some places went up more than a mile from the river.While the border fence almost everywhere else divides Mexico and the U.S., here it divides parts of the city.”