MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

Between the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors
and the Wyoming Department of Transportation

Applicability: This memorandum will be in effect and apply to all preliminary land surveys, right of way plans, construction surveys, and placement of right of way monuments after January 1, 1993, and shall be in full compliance by January 1, 1994.
 

1. "Aliquot Corner" - Means any section corner or quarter section corner and any other corner in the U.S. Public Land Survey System created by subdividing land according to the rules of procedure set forth in: Federal Law; Wyoming State Statutes; State Board Rules and Regulations; and Manual of Instructions for the Survey of Public Lands of the United States, 1973.

2. "Control Survey" - A survey conducted by the Wyoming Department of Transportation that establishes a survey centerline, baseline control traverse or network in the field used to tie aliquot corners, monumented property corners, existing right of way monuments, and topography for the purpose of location and restoring real property boundaries.

3. "Right of Way Plan" - A land survey map showing the survey centerline, baseline control traverse or network in relation to aliquot corners, property lines, topography and irregular parcels defined and described for the purpose of right of way acquisition.

4. "Construction Survey" - Survey work within a project such as bridge layouts, hydraulic installations, roadway alignment and subsequent elevation determinations.

5. "Right of Way Monuments" - A monument set by the Wyoming Department of Transportation used to define Department of Transportation boundaries in the field. These monuments are not to be confused with aliquot corners or corners that define intersecting property lines with the highway boundary. Such monuments are prima facie evidence of the boundaries of the right of way.

6. "Monument Record" - Means a written and illustrated document describing the physical appearance of a survey monument and its accessories, or of a bench mark or triangulation station. A Corner Record (Certified Land Corner Recordation Certificate) shall be filed on all aliquot corners found or reestablished. If a monument has been found in the same condition as shown on the last recorded filing, no record need be filed.

7. "Irregular Parcel" - A method of defining parcels used by the Wyoming Department of Transportation but which is not uniquely defined on a subdivision plat but which are described by any of the following methods:

1. an aliquot part of a section
2. a metes and bounds description
3. book and page or receipt number reference
4. "Assessor's Tracts"
5. a bounds' description that calls only for the owner's or ad-joiner's line
6. strip descriptions

8. "Monumented Property Corner" - Any monument or reference point which marks a property line, corner or boundary.

Compliance with Wyoming Statutes:

It is the intent of this memorandum to have the Wyoming Department of Transportation in compliance with Wyoming State Statutes and State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors Rules and Regulations as it applies to professional land surveying. Beginning January 1, 1993 the Wyoming Department of Transportation will initiate procedures so the following duties are under the supervision of a registered professional land surveyor:

1. Control survey from which the right of way will be calculated, described and/or monumented.

2. Establishing of ties to aliquot corners, monumented property corners and existing right of way monuments. The location, relocation, establishment, reestablishment of aliquot corners or property corners which identify land boundaries, rights of way or easements and which affect the size or position or irregular parcels defined by the Right Of Way Program. (Ref. W.S. 33-29-114 and W.S. 33-29-137).

3. Right of way monuments shall be set at all changes in alignment, boundary lines, angle points, and change of direction. Right of way monuments will be stamped and sealed under the direction of the professional land surveyor supervising the work.

4. Settling, resetting or replacing of points to guide new construction for Department of Transportation construction projects, to include measurement by angles, distances and elevations of natural or manmade features in the air, in the surface and immediate subsurface of the earth, within underground workings and on the surface or within bodies of water.

5. Referencing and resetting of aliquot corners and monumented property corners disturbed by construction. If the corner falls within the traffic area of a highway, the corner position shall be substantially referenced with monumentation at locations assuring future perpetuation of the corner position. (Ref  W.S. 6-3-202 and W.S. 36-11-107).

6. Preparing and reviewing items pertaining to land surveying such as field notes, survey control listings, right of way retracements, right of way monument summaries, right of way applications, pit layout diagrams when tied to aliquot or property corners, right of way plans and legal descriptions. (Ref. W.S. 33-29-135).

7. Filing of monument records (Certified Land Corner Recordation Certificates) in the office of the appropriate County Clerk as required by Wyoming Statute. A Corner Record must be sealed and signed by the professional land surveyor who recovered or reestablished the monument. (Ref. W.S. 36-11-101 through 36-11-110).

8. Maintaining historical data on all land surveys and right of way plans made by the Department of Transportation.

1. Public documents and records prepared by the Department relating to land surveying such as certified Land Surveyor Corner Recordation Certificates shall be signed and sealed by the professional land surveyor supervising the work. (Ref. W.S. 33-29-114, W.S. 33-29-135, W.S. 33-29-139; and Board Rules and Regulations, Chapter Five, Section 2(c).)

2. Descriptions of land shall be related to the U.S. Public Land Survey System and may include where applicable the Wyoming state plane coordinate or grid system.

3. The Department will preserve or reset USC&GS (NGS), USGS, and other agency bench marks and triangulation stations, within construction corridors, reporting such preservation actions to the agency involved.

4. When practical and feasible the Department will oversee the monumentation of the right of way on roads constructed under the State County Farm To Market program.

5. As the Department's budget and personnel permit, the Department will make an effort to monument existing right of way acquired prior to this memorandum.

6. The State Board will review the Department's Land Surveyor development program and issue confirmation on the basis of content pertinent to professional land surveying. This, in combination with time and experience accrued in the performance of land surveying activities as outlined by this memorandum and under the supervision of a professional land surveyor, will qualify toward meeting Land Surveyor registration requirements.

By: (signed D.G. Diller)
D.G. Diller, P.E. & P.L.S.
Director - Wyoming Department of Transportation

By: (signed John W. Steadman)
Dr. John W. Steadman, P.E.
President of the Board