How the stakes are made
Every stake here is invented and drawn by this page, but each mark follows a published manual: the WisDOT Construction and Materials Manual, the Caltrans Surveys Manual or the WSDOT Highway Surveying Manual. Lengths and elevations are whole hundredths of a foot, so every answer is exact. Slope stakes are marked to 0.1 ft and curb and grade stakes to 0.01 ft, as the manuals ask. Where a manual gives the marks but not their order on the stake, the layout is ours, and the caption says so.
A worked example
In set CMM762 (WisDOT marks), the first stake reads D.C. 4.8, D.P. 34.8, S.C. 3.0 and S.P. 27.6 on the front face, CL 47.8 and OFF 5 on the back, 152+00 RT on the leading edge and 2:1 on the trailing edge. It stands at station 152+00, 47.8 ft right of the center line and 5 ft beyond the slope intercept, so the intercept is 42.8 ft out. With the ground at the stake at 653.4, the ditch point is 4.8 ft down, at 648.6, and the shoulder point 3.0 ft down, at 650.4. From the ditch point, 34.8 ft out, to the intercept is 8.0 ft, which on a 2:1 back slope is a rise of 4.0 ft. Open set CMM762
Three ways to mark a stake
| Marks | Cut or fill measured from | How it looks |
|---|---|---|
| WisDOT (Wisconsin) | The ground at a slope stake; the top of the hub on curb and grade stakes | D.C. 2.6, S.P. 32.0 on the front face, CL and OFF on the back, station and side on one edge, the slope ratio on the other; C=1.10 T.C. on a curb stake |
| Caltrans (California) | The reference point (the hub); on an RPSS only the first set, later sets point to point | A marker card: RPSS or CS, alignment and station, offset, EL, then cuts, fills and distances with the decimals raised and underlined |
| WSDOT (Washington) | The catch point on an offset slope stake; the top of the hub on curb hubs | The offset circled (10 ft in fill, 7 ft in cut), the cut or fill, the catch distance and the slope ratio; on the back the hub's cut or fill, its distance and the station |
Each is one state's manual, not a national standard; even WisDOT has the surveyor agree the stake marking with the grading contractor (CMM 762). Ask how your job marks its stakes and pick the closest.
Questions
What do C and F mean on a grade stake?
C is cut: the grade is below the point the mark is measured from, so material comes off. F is fill: the grade is above it. WisDOT slope stakes measure from the ground at the stake; curb and grade stakes measure from the top of the hub. C=1.10 T.C. means the top of curb is 1.10 ft below the hub.
How do you convert tenths of a foot to inches?
Multiply the part of a foot by 12. 0.47 ft × 12 = 5.64 in, which is 5 5/8 in to the nearest eighth, so a cut of 2.47 ft is 2' 5 5/8". A hundredth of a foot is 0.12 in, a little under 1/8 in, and a tenth is 1.2 in.
How do you read a grade rod?
Take a backsight on a bench mark: the HI is the bench mark elevation plus the backsight. The grade rod is the HI minus the grade elevation. Hold the rod on the spot: a reading smaller than the grade rod means the spot is high (cut), a bigger one means it is low (fill).
What is a slope stake?
It marks where a cut or fill slope meets the ground, the catch point or slope intercept. It is set a few feet beyond that point so grading does not knock it out. It carries the station, the distance to the center line, the cut or fill to the shoulder or ditch, and the slope ratio, such as 3:1.
What does RPSS mean on a stake?
Reference point for a slope stake, in Caltrans marking. The hub sits a set distance from the catch point, usually 10 to 20 feet. The first marks give the rise or fall and the distance from the hub to the catch point; later marks run point to point, from the catch point to the hinge point.
What do the colors on survey stakes mean?
It depends on the agency. Caltrans uses yellow for grading stakes, blue for drainage and curbs and white for structures. WSDOT flags slope stakes and drainage in blue and the center line in yellow. WisDOT and WSDOT set blue tops for subgrade and red tops for base; a Wisconsin training manual says the reverse, so ask.
Which side is left or right on a grade stake?
Face up-station, the way the station numbers increase. LT is left of the center line and RT is right, whichever way you happen to be standing when you read the stake. Station 12+50 is 1,250 ft from the start of the line.
Sources, checked October 25, 2026: WisDOT Construction and Materials Manual, CMM 762 Slope Staking (PDF, April 2026), with CMM 710 (accuracy), CMM 725 (subgrade and base stakes) and CMM 730 (curb stakes and grade sheets); Caltrans Surveys Manual, chapter 12, Construction Surveys (PDF, November 2012): stake markings, color code, abbreviations, RPSS, final grade and curb stakes; WSDOT Highway Surveying Manual M 22-97, chapter 15, Construction Survey Procedures (PDF, January 2005): slope staking, grade control, curbs, color codes, the grade rod; Transportation Information Center (Wisconsin), Basic Surveying Manual (PDF): marking stakes, left and right facing up-station, cut and fill.