PLATS OF SURVEYED
LANDS
The official plat of a township or other
subdivision is the drawing on which is shown the
direction and length of each line surveyed,
established, retraced, or resurveyed; the relationship
to adjoining official surveys; the boundaries,
designation, and area of each parcel of land; and,
insofar as practical, a delineation of the topography of
the area and a representation of the culture and works
of man within the survey limits. A subdivision of the
public lands is not deemed to have been surveyed or
identified until the notes of the field survey have been
approved, a plat prepared, the survey accepted by the
Director of the Bureau of Land Management as
evidenced by a certification to that effect on the plat,
and the plat has been filed in the district land office.
Figure 10-35 shows a typical township plat. The
original drawing shows both a graphical scale and a
representative fraction for both the township as a
whole and for the enlarged diagram. Because the plat
has been photographically reduced, the representative
fraction and scale are no longer true. Plats are drawn
on sheets of uniform size, 19 inches by 24 inches in
trimmed dimensions, for convenience in filing. The
usual scale is 1 inch = 40 chains, equivalent to a
representative fraction of 1:31,680. Where detail
drawings of a portion of the survey area are required,
scales of 1 inch = 20 chains or 1 inch = 10 chains may
be used. A detail of a small area may be shown
(fig. 10-34) as an inset on the main plat. Larger details
are drawn on separate sheets. When the drawing is
simple, with few topographic or hydrographic
Figure 10-35.—Typical township plat.
10-35
