Wisdom Wednesdays for the land surveying profession is a bi-weekly roundtable discussion to go over a chapter at a time from our “Surveying Bibles.” The goal is for everyone to read a chapter of a book and then have a roundtable discussion about that chapter. The current book being discussed is The Pincushion Effect by Jeffrey Lucas.
About the book
American land surveying has a dilemma; it’s called the “pincushion corner.” This is a name used to describe the phenomena of multiple boundary monuments being set by land surveyors when only one boundary corner exists under the law. The pincushion has not gone unnoticed by the legal profession and the general public. It is now common knowledge that no two surveyors can agree on the location of any given property corner. The pincushion is physical proof of that notion. Not only is the pincushion becoming a public relations disaster for the profession, it is causing those who might otherwise consider commissioning a survey to decide otherwise. And herein lies the dilemma; no one wants to hire the surveyor because of the way surveying is practiced, the pincushion being emblematic of that practice. This book explores the effect of the pincushion, how the phenomena started, why it exists, and remedies to end the practices that allow the pincushion corner to not only exist, but to flourish.
