Got a request a week or so ago to do some construction staking of new utilities within a highway right of way. Client requested us to determine the right of way, take the design plans, fit them together, and provide staking for trenches.
Not a huge deal, the Right of Way line of interest was a long tangent. Pulled all the records, including DOT documents, found the needed ROW mon's, and offset the ROW lines per the design.
Job appears to be going smoothly, and went to site this morning to provide the construction staking. We started with the ROW line first (no fences). About a half mile into the staking of ROW, we noticed 2 blue staked Fiber lines approximately 5-7 feet off of the ROW. If memory served me correctly, the new utilities based on design were 3-9 feet from the ROW.
Figured it would be a good time to call the client and discuss what we were seeing in the field. His response was the fiber lines were 20 feet from the ROW based on a map they saw from a cellular service provider.
Which sucks for them, because they already have the construction permits, and time frames established on this project.
Par for the course
I have a number of public utility companies we provide with surveying services. There is always at least one or two highway widening/ relocation projects going on somewhere (right now there is three).
It is generally a fat-gnuck. Somebody put something in wrong, the gas line really isn't where they flagged it, we can't start 'til somebody else does their thing. Always something.
You've done great if you can tie down the RW. After that if you run into a conflict; document it, let your client have that info and wait.
Sadly in the last few years I've seen some really screwy surveying happening on a few projects. Guys out there staking R/W with "pointless" lath, sometimes 5 or 6 feet off. I thought that was what your post was going to be about.
Always verify your R/W. The rest is snafu-infused rhetoric. I hope you are hourly! B-)
Par for the course
Project got weirder as I contacted the client. Turns out the owner of the project advised all consultants that the fibers were 20' from the right-of-way. Not only was the ROW and fibers never field surveyed the "20'" was scaled from an exhibit that didn't show dimensions of ROW. Wow!
Guy tells me he may have made an assumption of the available ROW area. Ya think.
A lot of time and efforts in design, access road easement preparation, site lease, and legal description preparation that has to now be changed due to the snafu. Last thing client tells us is how much would it be to prepare an easement for the landowner (other side of ROW). Considered giving him a feel bad discount since we had already established the ROW.
It takes a long time...
I did highway work for years as an employee of a paving contractor. After winning a bid we would sit around and wait for the "utility relocation" to get done before a notice to proceed work order was issued. I've seen over a year lapse before all the utilities were completed.
That length of time always made me wonder WTF took so long. Now that I am involved in a lot of utility work it is apparent "WTF" takes so long. Sometimes it's like a "Keystone Cops" fire drill...everybody involved is running around crazy, making noise and pointing..
