Geolocation with only quandrangle map information (no coordinates)

[JD.Borgeson]

All,

I have been assigned designing an upgrade to an existing station.  They want the cad file to be geolocated.  Problem is, they don't want to pay for a survey.  So I am trying to get the project geolocated based on the existing plans (attached).  These plans do not have coordinates.  The only thing I can see that is georeferenced is in the lower left hand side, there is a distance from the corner pf a quad.  so how do I locate this corner in Civil 3D?

Thanks.

[Pointdump · Accepted solution]

Hi @JD.Borgeson,
You could start by downloading PLSS shapefile data from Arkansas >>>Here<<<.
Dave

[JD.Borgeson]

thank you for the answer.  I called the Arkansas GIS office and nobody seemed to understand my question.  

That link didnt work but I was able to find the PLSS shapefile for the area I needed.  I imported it into my drawing.  Now... how do you adjust the visual settings of them?  the sections squares are on top of my drawing and i cant figure out how to change the transparency or turn off their layer.

[Pointdump · Accepted solution]

After Drag-n-Dropping the Shapefile into your drawing:
In the Planning & Analysis Workspace select the feature layer and click Style.
Select the Polygon Fill and choose "No Color".
Dave

[ChicagoLooper]

Star City, right?

1-Boundary obtained from Lincoln County Tax Assessor.

Go here to access the Assessor Website: https://directory.arkansas.gov/county/lincoln/

2-View of driveway leading to the facility as seen from Highway.

[Pointdump]

Hi @ChicagoLooper,
Nice! Is your first image from a shapefile? How did you get that? I went to your linked website, but I don't know where to go from there.
Here's my effort. I ran a boundary from a Section 16 shapefile and the PDF info. It closed pretty well, so I used ALIGN command to position the PDF. Drawing attached.
Dave

Edit: One thing to mention is that my drawing completely neglects the Combined Scale Factor, which is Grid Scale Factor times Elevation(Ellipsoid Height) Factor.

[JD.Borgeson]

Thanks for that.  It looks like we are on the same page, which is to say there is something flawed with the original plans/survey.  Time to become a bigger advocate for surveys, as margin of error here is high enough to defeat the purpose (construction crews using the dwgs to layout their stakes, grades, etc.).  I appreciate the help!

 PS I was never able to adjust the style of the shapefile.  The planning and analysis workspace on my version did not have the same menu as you showed me.  We are using 2019 Version.  I will get with our drafting department though.

[Pointdump]

@JD.Borgeson,
Sorry, I should have shown the way to get to the Map Task Pane without switching workspaces. It's Command MAPWSPACE, accessible via the Palettes Dropdown in the Home Tab of Civil 3D.
Dave

[ChicagoLooper · Accepted solution]

@Pointdump 

Unfortunately no, that wasn't a shapefile. It's just a plain ol' image from the county assessor's website.

Instructions:

1. Use search engine to find whether Lincoln County Arkansas have Parcels available online. Included 'viewer' in wording because many counties have interactive apps nowadays. Then from the search results, choose one. You may have to 'test drive' several to find one that's usable for your needs.

Image-1

2. The result from the search produced this page (every county is different so the resultant page will vary). Using your intuition and experience click a button. You may have to circle back and retry until you find one usable for your needs.

Image-2

3. Next choose Section-Township-Range since it's already printed on the PDF that was uploaded by the OP. Enter the S-T-R in the boxes=>>Search.

Image-3

4. The results produced a total of 52 properties spread out over 2-1/2 pages. You may click on any 'Map' teardrop icon in the left column to get the the Assessor's interactive map and from there you can nosey around. The OP's uploaded PDF displays the parcel shape and an adjacent highway so it's easy, I mean E-A-S-Y, to zero in and find the parcel interactively. Haha! It turns out it's 1 of 2 parcels owned by Ark Electric Cooperative Corp. NOTE: Every interactive parcel app is different so there'll be nuances from app-to-app. Some apps may be a totally new ballgame and require online savvy to navigate. Take your time and let you intuition lead you. BTW, Mr @Pointdump you have a 10-out-of-10 on the intuition scale!

Image-4

SPECIAL NOTES:

• I always notice 'scanned' PDFs are suspect. The original scanners (not necessarily the receivers of such scanned images) often don't know how to scan properly. Scanning an image frequently takes an original sheet size and scans it to a different sheet size. Manipulations in scanned images are subject to scale error. Eliminate the manipulations and you eliminate many of the associated errors too. Combine that with a scanned image created from another scanned image and errors grow. It's like making a duplicate house key from a duplicate house key instead of making duplicate from a 'master' key, the original manufacturer's key. Eventually, someone with a duplicate-from-a-duplicate-from-a-duplicate-etc., such as duplicate key number 7 won't be able to unlock the door.
• Dwg's are capable high precision while old drawings with deg-min-sec are low precision. No, this is NOT a complaint, it's merely an observation in the concept of precision. If those old drawings were high precision, then they'd be expressed in decimal seconds rather than seconds in whole numbers. All Cadders need to be cognizant that with seconds in whole numbers you already have built-in low precision. The locations of iron pins on a drawing may not be consistent with IPs found in the real world.

[ChicagoLooper]

@Pointdump 

Earth Point has a cool Township app that works with Google Earth Pro (not to be confused with Google Maps that opens in your browser, GE Pro is a stand-a-lone program).

https://www.earthpoint.us/townships.aspx

1. First, open GE Pro and zoom-in on your site to fill about 1/4 to 1/3 of your monitor. Then click the Earth Point button shown below. (You don't necessarily have to subscribe to Earth Point, unless you want to.) Image-1.
2. Go to your downloads folder and double click on the newly acquire kml. The kml will open and be listed at the bottom of Places Panel on the left under the 'Temporary Places' section.  Image-2.
3. You can perform MAPIMPORT on the kml. Creating object data during MapImport command is a little funky but I can confirm that it can be done.  Image-3.

<<The temp places is exactly that, temporary, which means if you shut down GE Pro the contents under temp places will be erased so the next time you fire up the program they won't be listed. To save the township, you can right click on Sections or Townships under the Temp Places then perform either SAVE TO MY PLACES or SAVE PLACE AS so you can reopen the save kml as often as you like. >>

1. While zoomed-in to the site in GE Pro, click the button shown above.

2. The Earth Point kml, when opened, appears under Temp Places.

3. Sections_1-36.kmz with labels, Object data shown in Properties Palette.

[Pointdump]

Hi @ChicagoLooper,
Nice tutorials!
Dave