Z15

Lots of thorns around that one as I recall. Was there in 2001. We were doing a GPS project on US-41 from Holiday gas station to Mohawk to tie down US-41 ROW. I drove close to that station with my 4x4 suburban but almost did not make it out, muddy road. PS - One of the guys I use to work with was born in Bumbletown circa 1933-34, around the time of the work.

I wonder if its even a survey disk? No center datum point, appears recessed so getting a level rod over it won't work. Might be just a project marker of some sort.

If you look closely you can see U ▲ S carved into the top of the mark with the pin in the center..

MIDDLE USLS 1871

Correct, its a section corner in Mackinaw county

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse Data Sheet Eagle Harbor Lighthouse History - Built 1851-1871 Note - Lake Superior Lighthouse.

I do not think the Nat't park has any standards with a database, it probably varies from park to park. They just contract out work as they see fit, each park is appropriated their own budget for projects.

We had a similar confusion once on a bridge replacement project. The mark in the bridge had the elevation preserved by us (with several TBM's nearby) before the start of the project, rebuild and widen one lane of bridge at a time. We got a new disk from NGS state advisor that was pre-stamped. The project inspector was to set it when they poured the abutment and set it in the same location, NE abutment near level with deck. But he reset the original mark (had it jack-hammered out) instead and never told anyone. After the project was done (took a almost a year) I went back to level to the new mark and discovered what he did. We then had to re-stamp the original disk before leveling. This could have easily been overlooked because at that time we had lost several Survey tech's due to retirement and I was the only one left who was there when we preserved the elevation. The project engineer could have cared less about the bench mark. As I recall the difference between the original elevation and the new reset was less than 1 foot.

Corps of Engineers survey marks are often unique to the project/structure/ C of E distict they are found in. To find info on those marks you need to contact the C of E district office and see whats available. The ones you find in the NGS database are often there only because they were found and used by some other agency (NOS, NGS etc) who then submitted their work for inclusion. Many agencies do not have the budgets to conform their projects to NGS standards and thus is never in the scope of the work.

USGS is part of the US Dept of the Interior (US Geological Survey) NGS/NOAA is part of the US Dept of Commerce (Nat't Geodetic Survery/Nat't Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration)

On all the aerial photos we placed for mapping at the DOT in my 30 yrs (were a lot), the Photogrammetry Engineer always furnished us a topo map with the flight path and where he wanted us to place the targets as well as what size to use, the paint (white or yellow) for pavement and white vinyl panels for terrain (woods etc) locations. We always put down black plastic so they could find the "X" in the photos. Typically we always used 8 inch x 8 ft "X" or a "V". Higher flights (to cover larger area) required different sizes like a 16x16 ft"X" but those were rare and usually for preliminary route location for wider coverage. We had to provide XYZ coordinates for all the points we marked and he often chose what were called wing shots (outer edge of flight path) for elevations only. It all depend on what they were going to use the photo's for, sometimes we never ran control because he had us place the targets at certain distances apart to have a scale for preliminary route location studies. Note - The yellow painted "X" almost always cause some stir among the public with all kinds of black opps theories for them and many never believed they were for aerial mapping for highway improvements. Once we were painting them along US-41 when a local county cop stopped and aske; are you going to widen the road? My partner said, No, were going to make it longer! The cop gave him a nasty look and took off like a bullet. One time the maint. dept had to send a crew out to obliterate some after the flight because some people were afraid to drive over them and were calling police etc. Weird! That was along US2.

I would not recommend painting any survey marks UNLESS the proper color is used. Colors have meaning to construction and utilities etc. The colors below are industry standard and each color identifies a specific type of utility. WHITE - Proposed Excavation PINK - Temporary Survey Markings RED - Electric Power Lines, Cables, Conduit and Lighting Cables YELLOW - Gas, Oil, Steam, Petroleum or Gaseous Materials ORANGE - Communication, Alarm or Signal Lines, Cables or Conduit BLUE - Potable Water PURPLE - Reclaimed Water, Irrigation and Slurry Lines GREEN - Sewers and Drain Lines

Here is a link to some info on the "and state Survey" mark CWA Report 1935 Background on the CWA Projects

Gov't land is the purview of the GLO.

When USGS did mapping surveys they often set reference marks of various types in support of local mapping efforts, They often used bolts, nails, spikes, cut X, chiseled square and many other items in their runs to monuments with disks in them. They list them in the field books as "UE bolt", UE for Useful Elevation.

It might be a reference point to some nearby survey point or it could have been a work point is some surveyors project?

This is what is called an "Intersection Station", aka landmarks and observed from multiple directions to determine its position, NGS is no longer is interested in having these updated. But you can certainly log it on this site. They have little value to the surveying discipline with the advent of modern tools such as GPS.

At the DOT we used to tie our road alignments into them. Part of US-2 in upper Michigan we ran traverses between triangulation stations (set new control) from; St Ignace to West of Escanaba, in the late 1970's and 1980's. All our plans were placed on the Michigan Coordinate system.

How can I find survey benchmark and triangulation station information? Most survey marks were set by the US Coast & Geodetic Survey (now called the National Geodetic Survey) and information for those marks is available on the web. For further assistance call 301-713-3242 or e-mail infocenter@ngs.noaa.gov. If the National Geodetic Survey doesn’t have the information you seek, contact one of these two offices: For information about marks set by the USGS in ND-SD-NE-KS-OK and all points east, contact USGS in Rolla, Missouri, by telephone at 573-308-3500 or by e-mail at mcmcesic@usgs.gov. For information about marks set by the USGS in MT-WY-CO-NM-TX and all points west, contact USGS in Denver, Colorado by telephone at 303-202-4200 or by email at answerspgm@usgs.gov. They will need to know the state and other info such latitude, longitude, location, name of the USGS map its shown on and everything stamped on the disk, not whats cast into it. Keep in mind it all paper so it requires some work to look for so more information speeds the process. Here is a link that shows a typical USGS data sheet Bench marks----> http://surveymarks.planetzhanna.com/USGS/MI/Houghton_356.pdf Traverse marks-----> http://surveymarks.planetzhanna.com/USGS/MI/H_Houghton_356.pdf

Basically it boils down to that when NGS was compiling data for inclusion into the national database circa 1980, USGS did not provide any information, likely due to budget constraints. USGS over the years had very copious notes and scatted in various locations. I suppose the cost to compile all this information was time consuming and costly so a decision was made that is was not in USGS interests to do that. Today many of the USGS marks are of sub-standard accuracy so they have no need to ever use them again. Due to the methods employed and the improbability of recovering them, USGS does not deem them important. Its cheaper to go out and set new mark with GPS than to spend 5x as much time looking for old one. Many are just merely historical in nature today due to advancements in survey technology (GPS).

69.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY Established: In the Federal Works Agency (FWA) by Reorganization Plan No. I of 1939, effective July 1, 1939. Predecessor Agencies: Civil Works Administration (CWA, 1933-34) Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA, 1933-38) Works Progress Administration (1935-39) Functions: Provided jobs to unemployed workers on public projects sponsored by federal, state, or local agencies; and on defense and war-related projects; and to unemployed youth through National Youth Administration (NYA) projects. Abolished: By Presidential letter, December 4, 1942, effective June 30, 1943. http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/069.html#69.1

Just a little story. Years ago (Circa 2000)I was out doing recon for a future GPS project and there was a 1st order BM in a location similar to this, although there was a residence nearby. I searched around and could to find the mark so I moved on to another 1 miles down the road, gave up on this one. Some time later (months) I and my PS happened drive by this location heading to another job site. I mentioned to him that I could not find this mark the last time I was by here. He glances around and then says, "I thought I caught a glimpse of a BM". So I stop, turn around and go back. All be darned, there is a 12-inch concrete post sticking 6-inches out of the ground right in the area I was looking. There is some what freshly disturbed ground around the mark in the otherwise grassy area. So I put my foot on the mark and it moves, it was only 1 ft long, 6-in in the ground and 6-in projecting. We surmised the property owner might have destroyed it landscaping and keep it. When he seen me looking around for it he decided to replant it. We called the NGS advisor and he had no record of any resets and instructed us to remove what left and take with us. Note, the mark was on Highway ROW.

If that is the case, chances of finding it are low. Sewer work disturbes a lot of ground and the chances are slim to none anything close would have survived. I observed when they installed sewer lift station near me and for 100's of feet around the site the ground was are torn up.

If that is the Benchmark, its a miracle it survived that close to a cultivated area. A great many do not. Often times the location of the PC and PT are very difficult to discern in the field, unless so monumented. Over the years of resurfacing the pavement etc., the PC and PT location as it now appears in the field may have shifted from their true location as set out by the original plans. We (as DOT technicians) encountered this numerous times.

0.1 MILE SOUTH OF TANGENT OF CURVE; means it is 0.1 miles South of where the curve ends (or begins), not into the curve but on the straight line portion of the road. In sketch, 0.1 miles south of the PT on forward tangent. T - Tangent of Curve PC - Point of Curvature PT - Point of Tangency PI - Point of Intersection of Tangents E - External, PI to C/L of curve @ midpoint of curve R - Radius