The rectangular survey system, often referred to as the government survey system, is based on a system of lines that form rectangles and squares throughout the United States. Range lines run north and south between the principal meridians and are spaced out every six miles. Rectangular Survey System: Definition & Uses - Study.com Rectangular Survey System This is also called the section and township system or U.S. Government Section and Township Survey, established in the nineteenth century by the U.S. Surveyor General to survey public lands. Only about half of the state in the U.S. use the rectangular survey system. D. Rectangular government survey C Jacob is a developer who purchased 78 acres and had it subdivided into halfacre lots. Quadrangles have an area of 576 square miles, more or less, and are divided into 16 townships.\r\n \tTownships: The divisions of a quadrangle, townships, are six miles square (six miles on each side) and are delineated by township lines. There are several advantages of the rectangular land survey system. This system has also become known as the rectangular survey system and geodetic survey system.. A rectangular survey is read based on the state and meridian line and the property's location, directionally, to that line. Specific directional references are needed in the actual description to locate a particular piece of property, but for finding out how large a particular piece of property is, only the fractions matter. Rectangular Government Survey System.pdf - Rectangular An area bounded on two sides by guide meridians and on the other two sides by correction lines is called a government check, check, or quadrangle, which is 24 miles square, meaning each of its boundaries is 24 miles long. The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the surveying method developed and used in the United States to plat, or divide, real property for sale and settling.Also known as the Rectangular Survey System, it was created by the Land Ordinance of 1785..