Oklahoma Department of Transportation

> Mr. Leroy Tackett has recently taken the responsibilities of Chief of Surveys at ODOT.

Is this common in Oklahoma for folks to just take the responsibilities of some public sector surveyor? Did a holiday party figure into the events leading up to this prank?

> Leroy's acceptance ends a long and tragic period of non-direction and chronic cranial-rectumitis for the Division, imho. 😉

If the division is that bad, and your friend is a good surveyor, he won't be there long.

> Is this common in Oklahoma for folks to just take the responsibilities of some public sector surveyor? Did a holiday party figure into the events leading up to this prank?
A fellow by the name of Larry Reser had been head of ODOT Survey longer than most of us have been on earth. This muted statement is ODOTs way of announcing the end of an era. Mr. Reser had been privately indicating an intention to retire for a couple of years.

> A fellow by the name of Larry Reser had been head of ODOT Survey longer than most of us have been on earth. This muted statement is ODOTs way of announcing the end of an era. Mr. Reser had been privately indicating an intention to retire for a couple of years.

I guess there were lots of applicants. While I'm sure that Leroy Tackett is quite well qualified for the position, surely P.K. Nalle and Rod Plummer were also strong candidates.

> While I'm sure that Leroy Tackett is quite well qualified for the position, surely P.K. Nalle and Rod Plummer were also strong candidates.

I understand Seymour Pyles was a strong second runner, but Tackett won out. It was probably a SSS decision (super-secret-stuff) made well before the opening was ever announced.

I'm happy that the Department once again went against one of their own policies: All Division Heads will be PEs. It is apparently becoming increasingly difficult to find a Professional Surveyor that is also a Professional Engineer. At least one that is willing to work in the bureaucratic arena anyway.

> At least one that is willing to work in the bureaucratic arena anyway.

Isn't the accepted term "lunocracy"?

> Leroy's acceptance ends a long and tragic period of non-direction and chronic cranial-rectumitis for the Division, imho. 😉
ODOT's specifications for highway surveys are well tailored for the transit and tape. For the age of GPS, robotics, and HD scanning - not so much.

> ODOT's specifications for highway surveys are well tailored for the transit and tape. For the age of GPS, robotics, and HD scanning - not so much.

They must have taken out the section that read:

"At no time shall a Division surveyor or their agents be guilty of actually uncovering or locating an existing monument on private property. Only corners that agree with the oldest and least accurate Survey Work Order (S.W.O.) will be acknowledged and accepted. If these cannot be found, new corners shall be set that agree with the oldest and least accurate S.W.O. in an attempt to throw the entire area into mass coordinate geometric insanity."

> > ODOT's specifications for highway surveys are well tailored for the transit and tape. For the age of GPS, robotics, and HD scanning - not so much.
>
> They must have taken out the section that read:
>
> "At no time shall a Division surveyor or their agents be guilty of actually uncovering or locating an existing monument on private property. Only corners that agree with the oldest and least accurate Survey Work Order (S.W.O.) will be acknowledged and accepted. If these cannot be found, new corners shall be set that agree with the oldest and least accurate S.W.O. in an attempt to throw the entire area into mass coordinate geometric insanity."
>

No, it's still there. They just changed the wording a little:-@

> No, it's still there. They just changed the wording a little:-@
Mr. Reser has been the Bear Bryant of Oklahoma surveying for so long that I wonder if anyone who works for the DOT can imagine any way other than the way its always been. Changes will come slowly.