Surveyor's stakes placed at the intersection of a cut or fill slope with the natural ground, instructions include the slope ratio to meet the hinge point of a roadway or other reference point are called ________.

• A. Slope stakes
• B. Stakes
• C. Benchmarks
• D. Foreslope

Answer: (A)

Slope stakes are placed where a proposed cut or fill slope meets the natural ground and carry the slope ratio and hinge-point instructions needed to construct the slope to the roadway or reference point. They guide how steep the slope should be and where it begins, tying the design to the actual ground so the finished grade aligns with the hinge point. Other terms describe different markers or references, but the stakes that convey the slope ratio to integrate with the hinge point are slope stakes.