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Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Dendy Engineering & Surveying, Inc., 1322 CR 413 PO Box 325, Houlka, MS (2026)

Consulting Civil Engineering and Land Surveying Firm specializing in civil design engineering and land surveying services; including water and sewer system design, roadway design, subdivision and site planning and design, boundary and topographic surveying and mapping, ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys.

06/09/2026

It was hot today (92⁰) and was hot, wet, and steamy yesterday. I went around 160 acres (2 miles!) yesterday and laid out a half-acre lot in Houston. I got soaked by a 20% chance thunderstorm, too. I finished as the second of two KA-POW lightning strikes hit nearby. Sheeeesh! I did not want to be caught holding a metal surveying pole up in the air when one of them thangs whammedthe ground nearby! Whew!
Today was a 40 acre survey, one mile around. I made some far-away section corner ties and located several iron pins and concrete right of way markers. I dodged a few bush hogs, dump trucks, tractors, and at one time, had two side-by-sides with helpful people inside. It sure does help to have people knowledgeable about the area to lend me their information. I made pictures with my smarty-phone of some survey plats and warranty deeds that will be a big help. My Schonstedt magnetic locator (not a metal detector) impressed those who saw me use it, which led to a discussion on how they work. No, I cannot find gold, silver, or any non-ferrous metal; only the magnetic field of a ferrous metal object, like an iron pipe or steel re-bar. I also find nails, screwdrivers, pliers, hammerhead, axe heads, wood splitting wedges, mallet heads, vehicle parts, steel belts off automobile tires, chewed up steel reinforced right of way markers, tractor parts, chains, wire, bolts, and a bunch other steel and iron stuff, too. And, survey markers.
Now, I need to post-process two days of field GPS data and spend some time making the deeds fit what I found on the ground. I spend about as much time in the office as I do in the field. And, when outside, I drink a lot of water and Gatoraid, which "has electrolites." Coffee in the morning gives me a kick-start for the day.
Y'all stay cool, and drink lots of water!

05/28/2026

Second day in a row to finish at dark. I got a little necessary paperwork, deed plots, and calculations done before heading out both days.
Today's problems: face gnats, mosquitos, wet, gummy mud, one "are you hiring," several pipes and pin corners found, three corners destroyed by recent construction, and one concerned neighbor.
Typical day!
And, it is starting to get hot. Thank goodness I was in open sky, mud, and relativly flat territory today with a good wind blowing, keeping the face gnats away.
Yesterday was concrete surfaces, a nearby creek, hungry mosquitos, more face gnats, several "whatcha doing's", several corner markers found, one "X" cut into the concrete, and conversations with a few friends.
My magnetic locator found a rusty pair on lineman's pliers, a s***f can, a little pair of channel lock pair of pliers, several links of a chain, two bent corner pins, several muddy pin flags, and three marker t-posts laying down near their corner pins.
I went by the car wash today and power washed my boots, and squirted my ATV tires. Mud is still stuck on my tires, too. West Chickasaw County mud has a lot more "stick-um" power than other places, and you can't easily stomp off the mud when it seems to be glued on!
I found an iron pipe, too. It was laying beside the highway, probably having fallen off a truck. One day, it will become an iron pipe set! I like free stuff. However, a #4 re-bar 24 inches long costs $3.92. One 48 inches long costs $3.87. Go figure....
So, I buy 48 inch re-bar and saw them in two to get twice as many for a few cents less.
I filled up my Honda Rancher for $10, and my diesel pickup for $175. Ouch.
A new diesel pickup cost somewhere north of $75K, so Big D, my '04 dependable Paid For Ford F250 6.0L Super Duty diesel truck, needs to keep rolling. It's a good one. 265,000 miles and still going. I bought it several years ago with 235,000 miles on it. Former owner said lots of highway miles we were made and was still in good shape. No problems, and only a few quirks, ready for more years of service.

05/15/2026

Interesting.

04/27/2026

Recent surveys between Egypt (MS) and Buena Vista.
Friday, I tied into to another section corner that gave me the data along the entire south boundary line of a Township, measuring six miles long. I had information on the southwest corner of Section 31 which is the southwest corner of the six-mile square Township. I also had previously located the southeast corner of Section 36, which is also the southeast corner of the Township, being located on the Monroe County line. The first 5 miles going east were 80 chains each as laid out by the GLO surveyors of the Chickasaw Cession of 1832. The last mile going east was laid out at 81.15 chains where it intersected the Range line coming from the north along the east boundary line of the six mile township. The last half mile along the east and south tier of sections contained all the error in the original survey. Much of the time, the surveyors left the recently set interior section corner and ran a random line due east or south to an existing section corner set while surveying the outer township boundary lines. The distance they missed the corner marker was noted in the field notes, and a correction bearing was calculated and then entered into the final field notes. The quarter section corner (half mile mark) going to the towndhip or range line still remained at 40 chains in order to preserve the intention of having mostly 160 acre quarter section blocks of land throughout the township. The last half mile on the east and south sides of the township will always contain more or less than 160 acres, and will measure long or short.
It was interesting to note that most all of the last one-mile sections along the south side of the township I was working in had southeasterly bearings. I have always heard that sometimes the original surveyors "threw in an extra chain (66 ft )" to make sure that everyone got a little more land in the quarter sections of 160 acres. I know that the old 66-foot long Gunter's Chain had 100 links, and they tended to stretch over periods of use. They kept a calibration chain with the surveying equipment in order to take a hammer after the daily use chain and beat the rings back to where the chain measured 100 links long again to match the calibration chain. Apparently, the extra chain business occurred while surveying the outer boundaries of this particular township for this reason:
While calculating the east-west distances along the the southern tier of sections, I kept noticing the distances were always long. When I added up the GLO distances ((5x80x66)+(81.15x66) = (31,755.90 feet)) and compared that to my measured distance, I was within a few feet of being that extra chain per mile long, or 395 feet for that six mile length. That seems like a huge error compared to today's modern surveying equipment. But, remember that they took about 4 years and surveyed approximately the northern one-fourth of the entire State of Mississippi, from the Mississippi River to the Tombigbee River and Gaines Trace. And from the northern boundary of the Choctaw Cession to the Tennessee State line. That's a lot of land.
The southern township boundary of my work area was laid out first, and before the eastern range line, setting section corner and quarter section corners as they went. It was up to the interior section line surveyors to survey to those existing markers and note the correction bearings and distances in the field notes.
Each time I survey along a section line, I am reminded that I am doing retracement work, and not original work. I have to look for and find the best available evidence in the field that will support my determination of where the original surveyor set the corner, and put my mark back in the same hole, which is a lot easier said than done.
We have methods and techniques to reset lost and obliterated corners, which I utilize often. Many of our roads run section lines north, south, east, and west, and almost all of the evidence along those section lines are long gone. If we are fortunate, we can use existing ancillary evidence interior to a section to trace back to the lost and obliterated section corners and lines.
Land surveying ain't easy, but it sure is fun to do what I call "forensic surveying;" that is, finding things that can back me in to replace a lost corner and line.

03/27/2026

Nice day outside today. 81⁰, 45% humidity, and windy.
Here are some of the sites seen today.

Address

1322 CR 413 PO Box 325
Houlka, MS
38850

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Website

http://www.DendyES.com/

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Dendy Engineering & Surveying, Inc.