Acquisition of land for highway right of way requires a cadastral survey to establish existing property lines and to establish and mark (monument) new boundaries. Cadastral land surveyors identify and establish monuments that document the legal boundaries between public and private lands. A topographic survey is made to establish the configuration of the ground and the location of natural and man-made objects. A located centerline survey is generally made after the topographic survey is completed and alternative alignments have been evaluated. The final alignment is determined and then a survey of the centerline of the planned highway is conducted.

Many different types of maps are produced in the course of designing a highway. The most common include:

• Location or Vicinity Maps present the highway location in relation to surrounding physical features.
• Topographic Maps illustrate elevation with the use of contour lines and spot elevations.
• Planimetric Maps show features such as roads, buildings, water, fences, vegetation, bridges, railroads.
• Detail Base Maps, generally produced at scales ranging from 1:200 to 1:1000, combine features of the topographic and planimetric maps, and illustrate the following:

• utilities (above and below ground)
• recorded survey monuments
• exposed geologic features
• section corners, property corners, right of way monuments and other pertinent boundaries or corners
• proposed highway alignment features such as stations, bearings, and curve data

Keep in mind that each jurisdiction probably has its own map requirements and map terminology.