surveying & project services1 land use orientation surveying – mapping – legal descriptions...

Surveying & Project Services1

LAND USE ORIENTATIONSurveying – Mapping – Legal Descriptions


• TVA Web Site– www.tva.gov

• Map Store– 1-800-MAPS-TVA or www.tva.gov/mapstore

• Survey Control– Sheree Vincent 423-751-7644 or

[email protected]• General Surveying

– Dallas Sluss 423-751-2255 or [email protected]– Barry Savage 423-751-2880 or [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




Questions about the land project and certain TVA land use criteria should be directed to the Watershed Teams




When giving a site location lat/long is fine…..




Some control has already been put in the database…




Some control has not….




TVA Control and Boundary Data is based on NAD27/NGVD29 but was established without elevation and scale factors. Therefore we use the term “ground”.

On a prima facie basis TVA boundary coordinates are like any other coordinate and should be treated as directive only and used as locative as a method of last resort.




361-4 TO 361-5N89°44’04”E 1294.71




Vertical Control

Do not use the lake as a benchmark!!Use a published monument that is compatible with the reservoir.

On rare occasion TVA will use the lake level as a turning point for rough elevation work


• A declaration prepared by TVA’s H. Morgan Goranflo, P.E., Senior Consultant on River System Operations, gives valuable insight as to the levels of accuracy that may be attained from lake level readings and analysis. He points out that, under the best upstream modeling analysis scenario, several tenths of a foot accuracy could be expected. Mr. Goranflo states that this level of information is not usually available to the public except for rare instances, and he considers the practice of using lake level for determining accurate elevation unsound.






Due to the fact we hold land in public trust, easements granted are often treated like fee sales for land.

Monumentation is required for the sale and/or abandonment of easement rights.




Contour Boundary

TVA lake boundary is not riparian or littoral. The boundary of a tract is fixed by the location of the contour elevation as it existed at the time of the conveyance. TVA used the contour not the waters edge as the boundary.




Contour Boundary

“… Questions may arise as to “what contour to rely on.” The surveyor must be careful in being able to definitively locate the specific contour that is identified and described in the deed. In order to accomplish this task, the question of common law property rights must first be examined. When a contour is identified in a deed, whether it is a fee or easement, the contour that is controlling is the specific contour that is in effect at the time the deed was accepted and delivered from the grantor to the grantee. If a deed that was signed in 1943 described an easement that was obtained to the 1000 foot contour, then it is at the exact moment of delivery that the rights are sealed, delivered and accepted to that 1000 foot contour that is in place at that time…..




Contour Boundary

Section15.27, “Contours as Boundaries” from the Seventh edition of Clark on Surveying and Boundaries by Walter G. Robillard and Lane J. Bouman:

…It is not the 1000 foot contour identified on a subsequent map that is created seven years later by a different surveyor. The reasoning for this is quite logical. Property rights to a specific parcel are created at the delivery of the deed and at no other time. … It is technically unreasonable to consider a subsequent map to identify the controlling contour. … The burden to adequately identify the original contour line falls upon the individual raising the question. …”




Contour Boundary

There are three basic general scenarios that arise when retracing contours as boundaries that involve TVA:

•The land sale map (or other TVA map showing the contour) was called for in the conveyance documents

•The land sale map (or other TVA map showing the contour) was called for in the land sale contract

•No TVA map was called for in the conveyance documents or land sale documents




Scenario one:

According to section 11.10, “Call for a Plat” from the fifth edition of Brown’s Boundary Control and Legal Principles by Walter G. Robillard and Donald A. Wilson: “Where a property description calls for a plat or map and the parties acted with reference to the map, the plat or map becomes a part of the description as much as if it were expressly recited in the deed itself.”




Scenarios two and three: These two scenarios are somewhat similar since they both involve the use of extrinsic evidence in the resolution of reestablishing the contour as of the conveyance date. According to section 6-10, “Extrinsic Ambiguities of the Writings” from third edition of Evidence and Procedures for Boundary Location by Curtis M. Brown, Walter G. Robillard, and Donald A. Wilson: “Extrinsic evidence may be sought (1) to explain the meaning of words existing within a written conveyance and (2) explain the conditions existing as of the date of the deed…Frequently, extrinsic evidence must be used to identify the physical objects called for…




Scenarios two and three: It is well settled that all monuments, and things referred to in a deed for the purpose of locating the land, may be established and identified by extrinsic evidence. In most instances, however perfect the description employed by the conveyance, the premise could not be located and identified without reference to extrinsic evidence, whether more or less proximate, and for the purpose of sustaining a grant, extrinsic evidence may always be used to identify, explain, or establish the objects of the call in a deed.”




1. The existing contour will be physically located on the ground using the appropriate vertical datum called for.

2. The existing field located contour will be compared to the one shown on the Land Sale Map (not the D Stage) called for in the conveyance documents.

3. If the two coincide within reason, TVA will usually hold the contour as shot in the field.




4. If, however, there appears to be a significant difference between the field located contour and the mapped contour, TVA will look for evidence of manmade ground disturbance.

a. This may involve historical aerial photography, field based analysis, etc.

i. The relevance of each type of evidence will need to be weighed by the Professional Land Surveyor tasked with the responsibility of retracing the contour boundary.




5.If it is determined that the ground has changed, or disturbed since the original conveyance, TVA will then look to use the best available evidence to replace the line in its original location.

1)This evidence may be the location of the contour as shown on the Land Sale Map as called for in the conveyance document.

a.If this method is chosen, it will be digitized in an equitable manner. Surveyors submitting drawings to TVA are encouraged to do this prior to submittal.

b.If the digitized contour is used, it may be rotated and/or translated to existing called for physical monumentation, or to existing ground established contours in areas that exhibit no manmade disturbance.




“… The ability to locate a contour line that has been modified or altered, either naturally or by the acts of man, depends how accurately the contour was originally surveyed. If the contour was located only by an elevation on the ground, then once an alteration or modification takes place, it is difficult to reposition it. A location of a contour can be attempted using aerial mapping from aerial photographs of the date of the deed, but the contours that would be identified would also be subject to mapping errors. On the other hand if the contour lines were established by elevations run by leveling in the field, and a horizontal traverse of bearings and distances established, then in order to locate the elevational position, the surveyor would simply place the traverse line on the ground …”

Section15.27, “Contours as Boundaries” from the Seventh edition of Clark on Surveying and Boundaries by Walter G. Robillard and Lane J. Bouman




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surveying & project services1 land use orientation surveying – mapping – legal descriptions...

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