A question came up recently regarding a local New England track. The original survey certificate, sureveyor or striper could no longer be located. Dr. Wayne Armbrust suggested the following:
If the plans are not available, then one should try to reconstruct the original measurements. For the track itself, one can use the procedures outlined on my website at
http://www.computomarx.com/Manual.htm#SEC3
To locate the radius of the inside lane line (or curb) and the distance between radius points. One can then compute the lap length using the formula
L = 2(d + (pi)xr), where d is the distance between radius points, r is the measure line radius, and pi equals 3.14159...
Remember that the measure line is 20 cm from the outside edge of the inside lane line if there is no raised curb or 30 cm from the outside edge of the curb if one is present. If the lap length determined by this method computes out to within a few centimeters of 400m, one can assume the main track is measured correctly.
Wayne's procedure may give some insight on what is involved for certifing a track for track records.
Thank you. -- Justin