How to Survey Land With Autocad

Autocad surveying requires the physical measurements to be taken first.

Autocad programs are computer programs that can take measurements and drafting lines and create virtual models and depictions of the physical items. In order to use autocad to survey land, though, you need to first have all of the necessary measurements for the property. Remember that the map you make will only be as accurate as the measurements you use to make it.

Things You'll Need

• Property measurements
• Autocad program

Instructions

1. Choose a starting point in the physical measurements to begin with. A corner of the property is best. Once you've selected this point start the ._line command and then enter the length of the line segment that is one side of the property, along with the bearing in degrees of that line.

2. Create a second line segment using the ._line command from either the original corner, or from the end of the new line segment. Enter the next line of the property the same way as you did the first, with its complete length and bearing in degrees.

3. Draw an arc. While some properties are perfectly square, others have curves and arcs in them. In this case you need to begin at the point where the arc starts to curve outwards. Draw a straight line perpendicular to the line segment that's on the inside of the curve using the ._line command. Once this is done take the starting point of this line and rotate it downwards so that it's now horizontal. Detailed drawings are given in the reference, but once these three points are established and a curve value entered, the autocad program will draw the curve as you indicate.

4. Continue creating linked line segments until you have the entire layout of the property mapped in the autocad program. It's best if you move in either a clockwise or counterclockwise pattern.

References

• Cad Tutor: AutoCad Tutorial
• Johann Sandra: Introduction to Land Surveying