NEW TOPOGRAPHIC SURVEY METHODS 



By J. H. Bonner' and F. R. Bonner- 



(NoTE: The following article appeared in the January 6th issue of En- 

 gineering News and the March issue of The Timberman, and has been widely 

 commented on by engineers as presenting something entirely new and valu- 

 able. Perry Baker, editor of the Engineering News, in commenting on the 

 article, said: "It is not very frequently that the editor can direct attention 

 to new methods in surveying, but the reader will find this article to describe 

 some truly radical improvements in the field work of topographic surveying.") 



The last few years have witnessed a remarkable change in 

 methods used in the logging industry in the Pacific Northwest. 

 It is only a few years ago that a man with a quarter section of 

 timber land, a team of horses and limited capital could engage in 

 the logging business. But times have changed; the closa-in 

 timber has been logged ; keen competition has reduced prices ; and 

 the future logging operations of the large companies are planned 

 out on a comprehensive scale for years to come. The old "tote" 

 road is being supplanted by the logging railroad. The passing of 

 the small-mill man is marked by the advent of the logging engineer, 

 a profession vmknown a few years back. Practically all of the 

 companies doing railroad logging in the Pacific Northwest now 

 employ an engineer more or less continuously, who plans and 

 directs the entire field operations. 



Time was when a company in building a logging railroad 

 followed the general contour of the ground, with narrow roadways, 

 steep grades, and insufficient drainage. But modern business 

 efficiency no longer permits such methods ; the logging companies 

 are now doing on a small scale what our transcontinental railroads 

 are undertaking — eliminating sharp curves and reducing grades 

 on the main lines. Such construction increases first cost but the 

 logging engineer no longer plans on tearing up the steel in a few 

 years when the area has been logged. The grade is so constructed 

 that the owner of a body of timber beyond can afford to buy the 

 road and haul his logs over it in preference to building another 

 railroad. Also in special cases, owing to the present-day demand 

 for logged-over lands for farming purposes, there is a chance of 

 the road being used as a common carrier in years to come. 



• Professor of Forest Engineering, Forest School, University of Montana. 



* Chief of Geography, District 1, U. S. Forest Service. 



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