Nails in road

[+blb9556]

I was on a site and it said the nails were for elevation? Is this true? Why are some in database and most not?

Edited November 4, 2007 by blb9556

[+PFF]

Hmmm. Do you mean you were on a job site, or were you on a web site? Your question is unclear.

 

Generally speaking, nails driven into pavement are for a specific purpose, such as showing where a property line meets the road's centerline, or to mark the center of an intersection. Obviously, such marks are temporary in nature, since roads get repaved/repaired at intervals.

 

I followed a series of nails pounded into pavement, recently, while finding the corners of a ten-acre rural parcel. The nails were set at each point where the property line changed direction (even if it changed only slightly). The survey I worked from gave the length of the line between nails. From this, I was able to go from one side of the lot to the other, along the road frontage.

 

I suppose elevation could be marked the same way. But something for local use on a short-range project probably would not be put into a database. On the other hand, there are nails, rivets, bottles filled with ashes, and a host of other objects which have made it into the database, over the years. It depends upon the precision with which the object was placed.

 

The group would need more info from you in order to answer your question. Also, see the FAQ for additional details about why some things (including many disks) are not in the data base.

 

Best regards,

-Paul-

[+blb9556]

It's a web site and their 4 or 5 nails in pavement in middle of street. Street hasn't been paved in 11 years

[Z15]

Could be a thousand reasons they were put there and none related to surveying. The police could use them to mark accident or crime scene evidence location, they could be temporary survey marks, temp work points etc. Anyone can go to most hardware store and buy masonry nails.

 

You have to know who put them there and why.

Edited November 5, 2007 by Z15

[foxtrot_xray]

Could be a thousand reasons they were put there and none related to surveying. The police could use them to mark accident or crime scene evidence location, they could be temporary survey marks, temp work points etc. Anyone can go to most hardware store and buy masonry nails.

 

You have to know who put them there and why.

I came across two BM's in south-central Colorado that were nails in pavement. However, they were put there a very, very long time ago, and there's been at LEAST *TWO* pavings since then, so I'm sure they weren't there. Didn't even bother to stop and look, honestly.

 

They could be for anything.. I believe, for anyone here to make a more educated guess, you'd have to give us more context..

[+Renegade Knight]

PK Nail are used by surveyors and engineers to create a temporary benchmark. Normally for one particular project, but they can cover a few projects. They are not intended to be permanent benchmarks.

[+Kewaneh & Shark]

A nail used as a benchmark is intended to be a temporary mark, as a nail in asphalt would be anything but temporary. Benchmarks are often some distance away from a jobsite where an elevation is needed. A surveyor would 'carry' an elevation from the benchmark to the jobsite and establish a temporary benchmark(s) near the jobsite.

 

For temporary marks, surveyors can use concrete nails, PK nails, MAG Nails, cotton spindles, railroad spikes, chiseled squares on concrete, or a multitude of other things. These temporary marks are usually only intended to be used through the life of the project at the jobsite.

 

- Kewaneh

Edited November 6, 2007 by Kewaneh & Shark

[+blb9556]

I found a photo it's the same as the nails in road but in road not wood and hammered in all the way

 

Nails in road

Edited November 9, 2007 by blb9556