NM Land Surveyor case studies

NM Land Surveyor · Put your knowledge to work in context.

The New Mexico Land Surveyor credential is a state-issued professional license that authorizes a person to practice land surveying independently in New Mexico - signing and sealing boundary surveys, plats, legal descriptions, and control work. It is intended for surveyors who have completed the required education and progressive field/office experience and are ready to demonstrate competence at the professional level, not just technical proficiency. The NM Land Surveyor case studies are 5 cases and about 2,577 words.

Original Corner Versus Long-Standing Fence in a PLSS Section

You are retracing Lot 3 of Section 14, T5N R8W, New Mexico Principal Meridian, in Socorro County. The 1885 GLO plat and field notes call the south quarter corner a sandstone 18 by 12 by 6 inches marked “1/4,” with three bearing trees, and give the distance north to the section corner as 40.00 chains.

622 words, about 3 min 2

Acequia as Deed Boundary in a Northern New Mexico Land Grant

You are surveying a 6.2-acre parcel in Rio Arriba County within a Spanish community land grant confirmed by Congress in 1909. The 1996 deed begins at “the center of the Acequia Madre del Rio,” runs N 12° E 480.0 ft, then east to “the west line of County Road 76,” then along the road.

559 words, about 3 min 3

Ground Versus Grid Coordinates for a Five-Mile Control Network

You are establishing control for a 5-mile boundary of a New Mexico State Trust Land parcel near Roswell. The project datum is NAD83(2011), New Mexico Central Zone (ftUS).

496 words, about 2 min 4

Level Loop Misclosure on a Highway Bridge Project

You are running differential levels for a bridge replacement on NM Highway 48. The loop begins on a brass disk set in the bridge abutment (BM 12), runs 1.8 miles through the interchange, and closes on an old railroad spike in a power pole base (BM 27).

453 words, about 2 min 5

Pressure to Certify a Plat Without Disclosing an Encroachment

You are the surveyor of record for a 4.8-acre commercial parcel in Bernalillo County. Your ALTA/NSPS survey shows a new canopy over the fuel pumps encroaching 2.3 ft into a recorded 20-ft public utility easement and 1.1 ft into the neighboring parcel.

447 words, about 2 min