Opinions On This One, Please

[+Harry Dolphin]

KV6827.

 

The round cast iron box was easy enough to find. The coordinates and description were good. When I lifted the top of the box, the depth seemed about right, but all I found was a small hand tool. I dug a bit, but did not locate a disk. Does this qualify as a find? Poor condition? Missing?

[GH55]

Are you about a foot below the sidewalk there? And is that the top of the concrete we see, or is it dirt? It is hard to tell from the photo.

 

I don't see an obvious mark from where it used to be mounted. So is it deeper, or has the disk been taken? If it has been extracted from the concrete, there should be a hole there to find.

 

GH

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Harry:

 

It looks like it might be a DNF. If is was about a foot below the surface when set then it could be a bit deeper than you what you went. Did you try probing with a screwdriver or something similar? I think it might be a bit difficult to remove a disk from concrete in that small of an area.

 

John

[Bill93]

My guess is that the disk (or rod end?) really is down in the bottom of the hole, and you will have to clean out nearly all of the accumulated dirt and crud to see it. I wouldn't give up until I had hit concrete or gone over 18 inches down.

[mapjunkie]

Hmmm - a mason's chisel could be evidence that the disk was removed. The NGS sheet says survey disk in concrete monument; was there any sign of concrete in the bottom of the hole?

 

-Matt

[GH55]

One other question - do the distances check out?

 

It is 28.2 feet south of the center of Harrison Ave, yet 50.8 feet south of the utility pole on the north side of Harrison Ave. Hence, the utility pole is 22.6 feet (or less) north of the centerline of the street. That should put the mark at least 6 or 8 feet farther south.

 

It is supposed to be 36.5 feet northeast of an inlet on the west side of Greenfield Avenue. If it is truly northeast, then Greenfield Avenue is about 25.8 feet wide (36.5/sqrt2). It could be less that exactly northeast, allowing for the street to be a little wider. Nonetheless, the distance from the centerline of Greenfield Avenue to the curb is less than 18.25 feet, and probably considerably less. Since the mark is 21.3 feet east of the centerline of Greenfield Avenue, it should be roughly 3 to 8 feet east of the curb.

 

From your pictures, it does not appear that the intersection has had any reconstruction work done on it since 1992. I would go back and measure the distances to be sure that is the right cast iron box.

[Z15]

I'd say you have to dig some more before you can call this. If you don't want to do that, get a piece of stiff rod or wire, a hammer and tap it down to see if you hit anything.

[ArtMan]

H D,

 

I'm inclined to suspect you've got the right location; note the faded paint around the rim.

 

I wondered what that thing was on the lid. A mason's chisel? Seems that if someone was so intent on stealing the disk, they would be unlikely to have left their tool behind. (Of course, this is Hudson County, where the long tradition of corruption make anything possible.) I'm inclined to agree with Bill93 that you need to dig deeper.

 

-ArtMan-

[+Black Dog Trackers]

If you do find it, it might be good to bring along a graduated stick like a paint stirrer with numbers painted on it, starting with zero at the disk like the flood rulers at bridges. Leave the stick in there instead of the chisel.

[mloser]

Harry,

 

I am solidly with the "dig deeper" crowd. I would think that you will find the top of a standard concrete monument with a disk embedded in it, just like most separately monumented disks. It doesn't sound like it will be a "disk on a post" like some recent settings.

 

Matt

[+Harry Dolphin]

'Tis a puzzlement, isn't it? I don't usually bring a measuring tape, and don't plan on measuring anything across Harrison Avenue. Harrison Avenue is four lanes. 28' from the center seems close. The pole on the north side of Harrison is probably the one shown in the picture, behind the car.

The hole is about a foot deep. I probed with the handtool found in the box, but found nothing for a few inches beneath the surface. No concrete monument. We thought finding that handtool strange. The cops driving by did intimidate us, especially after being questioned on the Brigantine Bridge.

We shall return! With trowel this time. Can I keep the little red handtool? Oh no!! Not another trip through the Tonnele Avenue Traffic Circle!?!

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

Harry: if there is no name on the little red tool, you have my permission to keep it.

 

John