Surveying before X, Y's

J. Dale Moore founded Frontier Surveying in 1979, before Geographic Coordinates (X,Y's) were the key in staking a new location. The lease lines, survey lines and or historical wells in the area were surveyed to place the location called for by the company that Frontier was doing work for. The location was staked using the current technology for that time period. The introduction of Global Position Systems (GPS) and 3-D Seismic introduced a new way of doing business. The geographic coordinates are sent to us by the geologist or company using data obtained from 3-D Seismic. The placement of the location is staked according to the geographic coordinates, along with the staking of the location, the lease lines, survey lines and historical wells are also obtained by using GPS. The challenge with the companies working with 3-D Seismic data is that the geographic coordinates might look good for a location, but the location may not be a legal location according to lease lines or it's position on the ground may not be accessible for a drilling rig.

It is crucial for Frontier to survey in the lease lines to verify that the location is legal according to the rules set forth by the Texas Railroad Commission or other government entities. Some of our clients are not using seismic to produce geographic coordinates for locations they want drilled. The same principals apply that Frontier will survey in the lease lines, survey lines and or the historical wells and produce a geographic coordinate by using (GPS). The surveying and mapping industry has evolved with technological changes, as have most all industries. Well locations and leases have been the backbone of Frontier Surveying in the 54 counties in the South Texas area in which we work.

Since the beginning of Frontier Surveying, Dale Moore has done a fantastic job in relating the locations to the State Plane Coordinate system (NAD27). Several of the surveys over the past 20 years have been measuring on the X, Y grid system that many are familiar with. Because all of the work has been done on the same coordinate system, and earlier measurements made with conventional tools were actually very precise, we have been able to reproduce many of the locations of most of the work done. The biggest difference in today's surveying is the amount of time saved by using GPS instead of conventional surveying tools. Now when you give us an X,Y, we simply use GPS to do the same job in much less time. Time is money and everyone wins when we get your needs met in a timely fashion.

Metes and Bounds
Unlike most states that have a public land system, Texas does not. We are a state that had land granted to settlers from Spain, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, and the State of Texas. The grantors had different instructions for the surveyors who laid out the Surveys and Land Grants. To this day, there has been a great deal of confusion by many people as to how the land has been conveyed and granted. The fact that the date of the survey is extremely important as it dictates what type of law governs the decisions of the original surveyors as well as those decisions made by those of us who's task is to follow the footsteps of the original surveyor. Texas is also unique in our application of survey rules that pertain to the riverbeds, and the minerals that are contained within.