Category: PILLAR Talk

“Hey, you there!” “Can I ask what you are doing on my property?!”

Every Land Surveyor at some point in his or her career has heard this very question.

Trespassing as defined by Meriam Webster’s Dictionary is “an unlawful act committed on the person, property, or rights of another, one of these unlawful acts is the wrongful entry on real property prior to or without acquiring permission either verbal or written”. As to the Law of Trespassing in Virginia, it is said to “exist for the sole purpose of protecting rights of owners (or people with lawful control) of property both real and personal”.

For now the Commonwealth of Virginia doesn’t have provisions in the state code that allows land surveyors to enter upon lands that adjoin the property that is the subject of the survey. We simply have to rely upon the willingness on the community to understand and allow us to trespass without the fear of criminal charges. But it doesn’t stop at just criminal charges; upon entering a piece of adjoining land to look for monuments that would allow us to re-establish a missing common corner, we also have to consider civil charges for any possible damage that may occur to the property while we are on it. Trampled landscape, a divot cut in the sod of a well-manicured lawn to expose a property corner, a snipped limb from a tree to improve line of site or an accidentally cut signal line for an underground dog fence. The list is endless and each item of this endless list could be a possible civil charge that could result in serious monetary fines.

Even with verbal or written permission to enter upon land we are not exempt from the possibilities of civil charges for action taken upon these lands that are perceived as damaging.

The biggest misconceptions about preparing a survey is that we only have to survey our client’s land. This isn’t the case. In addition to documenting our client’s boundary lines, title lines, and possession lines we also have to document how these lines interact with the boundary lines, title lines, and possession lines of the adjoining properties. After all that’s what a survey is, a detailed document that reflects how each piece of property interacts with each other and the physical improvements placed upon those lands. And in order to truly paint that accurate picture, well we might need to take a few more than one or two steps over the preverbal line. The vast majority of the time we i.e. land surveyors make every effort to talk with adjoining property owners. It’s this initial contact that would hopefully provide them with the information they seek regarding the reason why we are there in the first place. If this is the case then voila we now have permission to enter upon lands that are not the direct subject of our project. But every once in a while you come upon the situation were the owners are not home, out of town, or simply just not interested in hearing what you have to say. Such is the rights of property ownership and great consideration needs to be taken in regards to those rights.

From my experiences over the past decade and a half as a surveyor I have come to the conclusion that if you have permission to be on the property or you are holding to that old saying “forgiveness later instead of permission now” then treat it as if you do not, really consider what actions you take upon that property. If you cut a divot in someone’s manicured lawn make it as small and neat as possible; if you have to cross a fence either look for a gate or gently cross at a post. Because in the end it’s an all new ball game when that “sweat little ole lady” you just talked to (who just came home from a losing day at bingo) finds out you trimmed her prize winning rose bush back a little too far.

Rain, and more specifically drainage maintenance, is key to well managed roadways. After the structures and pavement, drainage is the third most important asset making up a roadway system.

Drainage consists of everything from main storm drain trunk lines to ditches and all the way down to pavement under-drains. Preventive and proactive maintenance is critical to keep your roadway functioning for the long term. We will address some broad maintenance issues and strategies in this issue of Pillar Talk.

The storm drain system is designed to quickly drain the pavement surface and channel the water away from the roadway into the BMP (Best Management Practiceusually some type of basin or pond) and ultimately to a nearby creek or river. Basic maintenance is simple: keep large debris from clogging the inlets to preclude flooding events, and prevent or clean the small debris to prevent reducing the system capacity over time. Some strategies to maintain your drainage system include:

1. Debris Removal: While removing debris regularly may be called an “aesthetics” issue, in actuality this task is very important for drainage maintenance. More often than not, a broken Styrofoam cooler, old life vest, or even a large cardboard box will wash down the curb or barrier wall and cover the inlet grate/throat or even make its way down into the inlet and clog the drain lateral. This is easily remedied with routine debris removal operations. Be especially vigilant if your roadway is a tourist route leading to recreational water-sports areas.

2. Sweeping: Routine mechanical or vacuum sweeping will prevent accumulations of sand and sediment in the pipes. Theoretically, storm drains
are designed to be “self-cleaning,” however this only means the sediment makes its way into your BMP or nearby creek, necessitating costly cleanup at some later date. However, if the system has small debris wedged in the pipe or poor joints due to settlement or poor construction, the sediment will deposit in the pipe and cause a flooding condition. Routine sweeping will prevent these issues.

3. Drain Flushing/Vacuuming: If debris removal and sweeping are not performed, the only way to remove debris and compacted sediments is by manual drain cleaning or Vac-Truck flushing. This is an expensive way to remedy a flooded roadway. Typically this work is done on a reactive basis, once the roadway has flooded. Traffic control will likely consist of a shoulder or lane closure installed in an emergency situation at night, in a rainstorm, with traffic trying to pass at high speed with hydroplaning occurring.

As part of your Operations and Maintenance Team, we can provide a preventive maintenance plan to maintain your drainage assets in line with your contract Performance Requirements.