Michigan Compiled Laws, Chapter 280. Drain Code of 1956 § 280.53

Sec. 53. The surveyor or engineer authorized to make the survey shall ascertain the size and depth of the drains and he shall preserve all minutes with reference thereto. He shall prepare preliminary plans, drawings and profiles thereof, together with a computation of the yards of earth to be excavated, the amount of tile or pipe to be used and the necessary bridges and culverts or fords to be built in constructing such proposed drain, and his estimate of the cost of such construction, and where practicable shall recommend the leveling of the spoil banks. He shall thereupon lay out a drainage district, which district may be described by its boundaries of streets or highways or tracts or parcels of land, or by a description of all tracts or all parcels of land, including therein all highways, townships, counties, cities and villages which would be benefited by the construction of the proposed drain, all of which he shall deliver to the commissioner. The surveyor or engineer shall not be limited to the route described in the application but may recommend a route and type of construction for the drains he considers most serviceable for draining the area involved.