this is what he said

[B
]I can tell you that our civil engineer's surveys are accurate to a tenth of a foot

I guess you should read it again.

This is in Colorado at over 13 thousand feet.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1551765531.jpg

He said accurate to .01 foot... that's 1/100 of a foot. Way less than 1/8"

I quoted what he said for you, I know what he meant, I don't think he meant to say accurate to a tenth of a foot but that's what he said. read it.

What's the area, expressed in square feet, of a rectangle that is 12'-4 3/4" X 22'-5 9/16"? Nuff said!

Of the metric system: Probably about 30 years ago, the Mississippi DOT decided that all roadway and bridge plans would be prepared and submitted in metric. Bridge plans with designs that were once feet and inches instantly were required to be in meters. And decimals of the meter. I had a LOT of heavy highway roadway/bridge construction surveying under my belt at the time, and my Dad, well he was quite well known by then a Civil P.E. at age 70 that was THE go to guy when it came to bridges in the State.

So I asked him, Dad, has anyone with MDOT that has made this determination to "go metric" ever set foot on a bridge that was being built? Do they actually expect the workers that build the forms to the rodbusters that layout the structural steel bars to actually put down their tape measures of feet and inches and pick up a metric tape measure?!

The end result was every job was bid with metric plans, and the contractor that was awarded the job got a set of bridge plans......in feet and inches. The whole program lasted only a few years before MDOT realized it wasn't going to work. In all honesty, I think they realized it was a bad idea that would require the removal and replacement of every interstate highway exit sign to the nearest kilometer. Spendy stuff, especially when it comes to overhead sign trusses in the more metropolitan areas.

Of using the metric system in property surveying: "I've got 82.45 +/- Hectares to sell, just a few kilometers down the road from the county barn. What you give me?" Yeah right....!

Of Cadd drawings: Everything is drawn at a 1:1 scale. The scale you choose to plot the drawing might be 1"=40' or perhaps 1"=100'. But regardless, the actual drawing is 1:1. Now, imagine an Engineering/Surveying office with the "best cadd guy in all of the world" (because every office has one of those) and he draws up a subdivision plat. By design, suppose a lot line is 100' in length. Well, we got to set an iron pin in the field at the ends of the line, so he's going to denote that point with a 3' circle at the endpoints of the line. The 3' circle is chosen so you can see the circle at the end of the lines when it gets plotted. But hang on, our "best cadd guy in all of the world" decides he doesn't like seeing the little bit of lines that go into and out of his 3' diameter circles at the endpoints of the lines. So he "trims" the part of the line that is inside our 3' circle at both ends of the line. THEN he has the cadd program label the length of the lines. Uh oh, our 100' line got trimmed by 1.5' at each end for the 3' circle at each end, it gets labled as 97', plotted, sent out the door and recorded at the courthouse. Many many lot lines. Many many lots. Big time fail!

Well, lets see. Let's scratch our collective noggins here. If you consider there are exactly 96 1/8 inches in a foot, being 8 of 'em in an inch, and 12 inches in a foot, and only 100 .01's in a foot, there really isn't that much difference between the two, is there? :D

jeezus Dean. Only a surveyor would get so much enjoyment out a dick measuring contest.

I've always avoided working with those types. They are all so bitter and unhappy and feel a need to just be a dick.

too bad you are so offended with this, I knew what you meant, but you seem to be the unhappy person here. I didn't realize I would have to put that in green for you.

Hey Bud! Glad you could make it to the contest. Now line up with the rest and compete for 2nd place!

I’ve told this story here before, but here goes again. A crew was building my room addition, one guy on a ladder measuring and nailing while the crew boss was on the ground cutting pieces and handing them up to him. The guy on the ladder yelled down, I need one 48 and an eighth.” Guy on the ground yelled back, “This is framing, there’s no such thing as an eighth.”

Jim, Sorry, I was short, not meaning to be mean. Tour guide probably cannot imagine a time without graphic computers..... and made it up.

When surveying we use hundredths of feet to allow easier calculations.

Can some one tell me the sine, cosine, or tangent of 4' 3 5/8"

I never interpreted your post that way, it's all good.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Now, THAT is an awesome office view.

What were you doing exactly?

Some days when I am working I stop and look at the view when it is unique and realize I love my job, then I get back in the office and deal with the people, and realize I hate it too.

The view from a couple of my jobs.

https://photos.smugmug.com/General-P...2m3skhn-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/General-P...wZ3kwKh-XL.jpg

Most days it looks like this.

https://photos.smugmug.com/General-P...bqBZ7t7-XL.jpg

We were setting section corners and quarter corners. Most of my set ups were accessed with helicopter, sometimes it would just hover against a cliff and I would off load the equipment. You always had to plan to be out over night with food and water because of the weather. If the guy couldn't come get you there was no way home. I carried a .44 but some of the guys carried a short barrel Remington 870. Most days I didn't see anyone until the helicopter came back to get me. The rod man and cutter, chainsaw guy had the rough part.

Well that certainly would answer the question, if it were not above the tree line.

I don't understand

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1551833195.jpg



I crack me up.

I am your straight man

And it makes some engineer's go crazy when they have to make a "Proper" change to a record map. Get out those clouds and little triangles.

Also there was a time when Civil Engineering drawing conventions were learned, not standardized by a bunch of damn lawyers.

Not according to the Topo Surveys.

Depends on the Survey. But a bad tolerance, or precision, will carry out over large distances. A precision survey, to the hundredths is not needed for laying out a house foundation. However, the "Control Points" do.

This is a very timely thread. I applied for a variance to have a garage built just last week. I have to find the property line. The place was surveyed in 2002 but three of the monuments have never been recorded - as in there aren't any according to the local surveyor. Gotta have the whole 5 acres done, for $1500.

yes but be a tenth off laying out a high rise, nothing good can happen with that.

When I first read that I thought you meant the bear’s pile of poop was a couple of thousand feet up. I knew bears had a big dump, but I had no idea they were THAT big. ;)