Pole Towers

[+frex3wv]

As I was looking at other benchmarks in the area - I read in one description where the surveyor commented that he used a 20ft "pole tower."

 

I have a sense after google searching - that I know what they are - the question is - have any of you ever found one (would love to see pics) - would that be a pretty big deal of a find? - and does anyone know if they simply left them there when they were through. If I hiked to the benchmark - would I/should I expect to find the remains of said pole tower?

[CallawayMT]

As I was looking at other benchmarks in the area - I read in one description where the surveyor commented that he used a 20ft "pole tower."

 

I have a sense after google searching - that I know what they are - the question is - have any of you ever found one (would love to see pics) - would that be a pretty big deal of a find? - and does anyone know if they simply left them there when they were through. If I hiked to the benchmark - would I/should I expect to find the remains of said pole tower?

 

frex3wv,

 

Here is the only substantial standing tower that I have found.

Ambrose

 

 

CallawayMT

[+NorthWes]

I found the remains of a relatively short one beside BRIDGE in April. Nothing like that monster CallawayMT found! (That looks like one of the towers I had to build on the Pioneering course back in the young man days at scout camp - now I know a practical use for it!)

 

I believe the remoteness of the station allowed the tower to linger on undisturbed. It's home now to a cache hide which has had only four visits in the past three months, despite it being right alongside one of Alaska's main commuter highways on the north side of Anchorage. It's a tough one to get to with cliffs on three sides and a bit of a tough scramble on the fourth, as well as having thorny plants on the entire route, coupled with bears all over the place. Well-protected...

 

[Papa-Bear-NYC]

Here is the only substantial standing tower that I have found.

Ambrose

 

 

CallawayMT

This is a great picture.

 

It also shows what I have seen in some archival photos but you don't see mentioned: these towers were actually two towers, a tripod inside a regular square cross section tower. The instrument or light was mounted on the tripod and the person doing the observing was on a platform attached to the outer tower. This way vibrations from shifting weight etc. by the person would not jar the instrument.

 

I had a picture of one from NYC circa 1909-14 but I can't find it right now. I also recall reading that surveyors often noted the remains of the old towers, so I think they generally left them.

 

EDIT: Just found that picture:

 

 

Notice the tripod inside the main tower. Also notice how huge it is, see those guys standing in front.

Edited August 13, 2007 by Papa-Bear-NYC

[andylphoto]

Great picture CallawayMT. Here is a photo of the only tower remains I've found...CAMP.

 

 

In the datasheet for MULLIGAN it is noted that apparently the tower was left in place. I may try to get to that one yet this fall.

[+Black Dog Trackers]

Here is NOAA's historic photo library of wooden towers. The "pole tower" mentioned might've looked like the second picture.

 

I accessed that from this page. Be sure to view the Whoops page!

Edited August 13, 2007 by Black Dog Trackers

[DaveD]

Pole towers were an idea NGS adopted from the Swedish geodetic survey. The towers were used only for sighting to and could be easily towed behind a truck. We didn't use them for too long as we found they were often more trouble to set up and align than they were worth.

 

[+frex3wv]

Dave D -

 

That looks like a pretty modern pic - compared to the others -

 

In remote places like I seem to be finding - isn't it safe to assume they were built onsite - and more then likely simply left there?! I cannot imagine them dragging something pretty big through the hollers and up the hills I have been hiking over the last few months.

 

(and still wondering if there is a book all about all this stuff that is able to be bought in bookstores - and if anyone knows of one - I bet you do)

Edited August 13, 2007 by frex3wv

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

I have a GPS with an extendable antennae.

 

This might work for getting the ant. out of tree cover.

 

Has anyone entertained that idea?

 

I used mine on a pole a time or 2.

[mloser]

I have read two datasheets that said the tower was left standing. When I got to both places I found little evidence. At ELLENDALE the recovery said the tower would ENDURE WEATHER AND BE USEFUL FOR FUTURE SURVEYS. Obviously not 70 years of weather because when I got there I saw nothing of the wood, and only some wires that might have helped hold the tower up. At WHITE HORSE I found 3 piles of rocks that held the bases of the poles for the inner triangular tower, and again, a couple of wires. Nothing lasts too long in humid Pennsylvania summers and wet winters I suppose.

 

As for books, I have a couple old ones I got but there are some online too. One I have looked at quite a bit is Elements of Precise Surveying and Geodesy from 1899.

 

The C&GS has their annual reports online at: C&GS Annual Reports

 

By the way, take a look at this page! It has just enough extra information to help find HOLMES--the writing is on the TOP of the stone, and each stone is 6 x 6 x 30 inches.

 

Also look at page 34 in C&GS 1882 Annual Report (page 59/612). You can get an idea what happened at Holmes the year it was set. It appears that they spent over a month at the station doing readings and waiting for good weather to do readings.

[+t8r]

I've climbed power poles with spikes and i've even climbed NV1145 a couple of times.

 

But i saw this in that NOAA photo collection.

 

No way would I get up there for all the tea in china!

 

WOW!!!!!

[+frex3wv]

ooops.

Edited August 14, 2007 by frex3wv

[NGS Surveyor]

Here is the link to my paper on the 200th Anniversary www site on towers, and poles, used by the USC&GS and NGS: http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/survey...rs/welcome.html

 

One particular type of towers, the Bilby Tower is covered in a separate article at:

http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/magazi...by/welcome.html

 

Towers constructed on-site at remote locations might have been left standing but normally the tower was removed. In the case of the Bilby Towers, they were reused over and over, as were the Swedish telescoping poles (which would go up to about 90 feet)

 

By the way, I took the photo of the red and yellow Swedish pole. It was in 1978 in Missouri. There were two poles in the photo because the cable used to raise (telescope up) the first tower, was broken. One person could transport the pole to a station (on a special truck rack), set it up with lights and/or mirrors, and center over the survey mark.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Closest I've come to finding a tower was a footing for the tower:

and an 'eyebolt for the guy wire":

[+frex3wv]

NGS Surv:

 

Was it common to take down and remove from the site towers in very rural/remote places (like the hills of WV)?

[NGS Surveyor]

The photo of the wooden tower at station AMBROSE is very impressive. The 1957 AMBROSE description in the NGS on-line database states that they built a 36ft tower of “lodge pole pine timber” and that’s what the tower in the photo looks like. So, assuming the tower is still there, it is probably 50 years old. How long the wood of a tower would last is, of course, a factor of the climate, especially dry parts of the country versus humid parts of the country.

 

The wooden structure in the photos of stations BRIDGE and CAMP are the remains of standard four-foot stands. These stands were used instead of tripods because they provided a more stable base for survey observations. There are photos of four-foot stands with survey equipment mounted in the “Survey Towers” article at: http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/survey...rs/welcome.html and below. http://flickr.com/photos/12262796@N06/1250787524/

 

In “t8r’s” message, the man on the 104 foot tower is none other than Jasper Bilby, the inventor of the Bilby Tower (see: http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/magazi...y/welcome.html)

 

To attempt to answer frex3wv’s question about whether or not towers were left on-site:

 

In remote locations when the tower was made of locally cut timber, the tower was probably left at the station’s location. It may have been dropped to the ground for safety reasons. See the photo below for an unusual tower.http://flickr.com/photos/12262796@N06/1249931615/

 

In areas accessible by truck and when the tower was made of dimensional lumber, the towers would probably have been dismantled and transported to the next survey station for reuse of the lumber. There are many articles from the early 1900’s stating how expensive lumber was. This was one of the reasons that the Bilby Tower was developed in 1926. On some occasions, small wooden towers were transported intact, see: http://flickr.com/photos/12262796@N06/1250...N06/1250787524/

 

After Bilby Towers began to be used in 1927, these steel towers were reused countless times. The Bilby Tower was like a giant erector set. It could be built by a crew of 5 in one day (with no crane!), could be built to many different heights as the circumstances required (high enough to ensure clear lines-of-sight), and two towers could be torn down in one day by the survey crew. Three versions of a manual describing Bilby Towers were written. The latest version, from 1962 is not yet on-line, but this 1940 version is, see: http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/cgs_specpu...35no1581940.pdf

 

All types of towers would be left standing if it was known that the survey station would be needed again the following season. Bilby Tower’s were generally “topped” (top sections removed) if they were going to be left standing over a winter. I have seen Bilby Towers standing in several locations. There used to be two on the island off Superior, WI. The only one I know of that’s still standing today is on the base at Cape Canaveral. If any one finds a Bilby Tower still standing, I’d love the location and photos!

[NGS Surveyor]

For some reason the link to the Bilby Tower article doesn't go directly to the article (in my previous post). From the home page at: http://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/welcome.html click on "Feature Stories" in the left column and then click on "July". There are many other articles on surveying on the same site.