TheCurtBrownChronicles
Land Movements and Boundaries
urt was always fascinated with the unexpected
and the unexplained. Many of his concerns
were to be shaped by laws that yet to be written; eventually some rules would evolve and
he often wondered how that would happen.
While many of the laws that govern our land
are derived from Roman laws and those from England, others
were home grown, as the seeds were planted in New England
and later, after the United States developed the sectionized
system of land subdivision, from our own country.
As Curt knew and many surveyors are learning, sometimes
the hard way, land values and refined measuring capabilities have
had a dramatic influence on how boundary lines are determined
and, eventually resolved. Upon considering Curt’s comments
below, I believe one of his most important observations involves
surveyors being “bombarded” with “fixed” coordinates. From
my perspective, this information creates a delusion of security.
When you factor in the “Gee-I-Google” mentality, this problem
becomes more knotty and, as alluded to by Curt, is leading to
more problems. He was always suspect and concerned with the
impacts upon surveyors once refined positioning became commonplace. With what appears to be increasing land movement,
the role and value of so-called fixed coordinates diminishes the
value of the entire system and once again, boundary survey logic
must control the location of property lines; GPS and the values
derived from this electronic measuring tool are, by necessity,
subordinate to reason, logic, and law.
When Curt wrote this article, the Big Mac was introduced at
a cost of 49 cents and the minimum wage was $1.60 an hour.
—Michael J. Pallamary, PS
The fundamental principle of Land
Surveying is: “The original position of
a monument, if called for, is unalterable
except by reconveyance.” Since this
principle is a rule of law, and since most
laws have exceptions depending upon the
circumstances, the rule of permanence
of original monument positions does
have several exceptions. One example
is within the sectionalized land system
wherein closing corners may be adjusted
to the line closed upon. Also, as a general
rule for all conveyances, if an original
monument interferes with a senior right,
it may be used to control the direction of
a line but not its legal terminus.
Within these United States, land has
changed its position by forces of nature
and by long continued operations of man.
Withdrawal of oil in the Long Beach area
of California has caused a maximum
vertical settlement of 27 feet and a
maximum horizontal movement of 7 feet.
In the San Joaquin Valley, water removal
caused sufficient land settlement to cause
water canals to overflow banks. Along
the San Andreas Rift sudden horizontal
Image courtesy of Christchurch, New Zealand City Council
December, 1968
shifts of 22 feet occurred in the earth’s
crust. In the San Francisco earthquake,
a sidewalk running from the front door
of a house to the street was severed and
displaced approximately 20 feet. Imagine
walking out your front door and finding
part of your sidewalk 20 feet to the north!
In this earthquake, similar shifts occurred
along fence lines. The question facing the
land surveyor is, “Does the boundary line
follow the soil or does the former absolute
position control title location”?
Displayed with permission • The American Surveyor • Vol. 10 No. 10 • Copyright 2013 Cheves Media • www.Amerisurv.com
Landslides are earth movements.
During the Alaskan earthquake, the
shaking caused saturated ground to
change from a jelled mass to fluid. The
surface soil flowed into Cook Inlet. The
more usual type of slide occurs on a
hillside wherein a portion of the hill, wet
by rain or irrigation, slides down the hill.
Migrating land boundaries are caused
by the forces of flowing water. For now,
it is sufficient to mention that the usual
rule for erosion and accretion is that
the riparian owner loses land eroded
away and gains land added by slow and
imperceptible accretions.
The question to be explored is: “How
does the surveyor correctly monument
land boundaries after a land movement
has occurred?” The problem will
ultimately be resolved by court decision.
But before a decision can be derived,
someone must present a logical hypothesis to the court. The court does not
answer questions, which are not in issue
before it. Usually the surveyor is called
feet horizontally. The right of way now
jogs 8 feet at the line of cleavage. Since
the road had to be patched with two
triangular slivers at this point, the rule
seems reasonable. It is conceivable that
with a shift of a hundred feet a road
right of way might be discontinuous. As
an incidental result of these earthquakes,
new surveyors coming into the area
have been somewhat puzzled by the lack
of agreement between their measurements and the record measurements.
On a sand spit, measurements were
made after an earthquake and compared
with accurate measurements made
prior to the earthquake. The average
elongation in an N 32 degrees E direction
was 1.01 feet per hundred feet. The
average elongation at 90 degrees, or S 58
degrees E, was 0.009 foot per hundred
feet. Visible ruptures or cleavage lines in
the sand were not observable. However,
irregular separations did occur in
sidewalks, concrete paving, etc., usually
at joints. This type of separation could
“...boundary survey logic
must control the location
of property lines...”
upon to set monuments on the ground
and to express his opinion. If someone
objects, the matter is often appealed
to the courts. Thus, the surveyor is
frequently the one who collects evidence
and presents a recommendation of what
should be done.
The following thoughts are offered
on the problems. Obviously, not all
proposed solutions are founded upon
court decision, since in many earth
movement situations court cases are not
to be found.
For a sudden rupture of the earth’s
surface along a distinct cleavage line,
as in the San Francisco and Brawley
(Imperial Valley) earthquakes, the
proposed rule for locating sheared land
boundaries is, “The same owner owns
the same land occupied prior to the
movement. Former straight lines jog at
the line of cleavage.” This rule presents
some discomfort in the case of highway
displacement, as occurred in Imperial
Valley, where the road shifted about 8
be expected since concrete can slide on
sand. For this type of earth movement
the logical rule is: “Where there is
elongation or compression due to earth
movements and cleavage lines are not
present, the elongation or shortening
should be prorated between nearest original positions as determined by acceptable
possession or monument evidence.
Man-caused subsidence by withdrawal
of ground fluids is slow and imperceptible with time. If an area is densely built
upon by streets, buildings, utilities and
other man - made objects, and if fluids
are withdrawn from the earth, and if
horizontal shifts up to several feet occur,
do ownership lines move with the earth
or do they retain their absolute position?
It would be an unacceptable hypothesis
that the owner of a building, no matter
how large or how small, would retain
land in its absolute position relative to a
coordinate position. Otherwise, a person
owning a building today might find his
building on another’s land in the future.
Title must shift with the surface movement. Obviously, at a distance from
where the settlement is taking place,
the surface will remain unchanged in
position. In any area between the spot of
maximum horizontal shift and the spot
where no shift occurred, there would be
some proportionate movement.
A suggested rule is: “Where there is
gradual elongation or compression of
the earth’s surface caused by withdrawal
of subsurface fluids, ownership lines
move with the shift in surface improvements and monuments.”
Along the California coastline, southwesterly of the San Andreas Rift, there
is a continual movement of the land in a
northerly direction. Coordinate positions of monuments on each side of the
rift are in constant, though imperceptible
motion. Over a long span of time, the
motion becomes measurable.
During recent years, surveyors have
been bombarded with the advantages
of fixed coordinate zones to control
property lines. The shifting of land
boundaries due to earth movements is
one reason why the system can never
become an absolute control, although
the system may be a useful tool to help
control locations. In reality, the usefulness of a coordinate system stems from
nearby monuments, which also shift
with earth movements. It is only when
new coordinate numbers are assigned
to an existing monument, or when
a monument is moved to its former
coordinate position, that troubles ensue.
In the event of slides, it is impossible
to conceive that ownership would
change with the flowing of the earth’s
surface. In Alaska where the soil
became fluid and ran into the ocean, it
is probable that title follows the location
as determined by bedrock. When land
slides down a hill and monuments move
with a slide, it is illogical that title would
follow the soil of the slide. The rule
suggested by this situation is: “Title location of land after a slide is determined
by the title location of bedrock prior to
the slide.”
Ambulatory land boundaries can be
caused by the forces of flowing water. This
problem is discussed in another paper.
Author Michael Pallamary has
compiled the writings and lectures
of the late Curtis M. Brown. These
works are published in The Curt
Brown Chronicles.
Displayed with permission • The American Surveyor • Vol. 10 No. 10 • Copyright 2013 Cheves Media • www.Amerisurv.com