+themonkey Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 I've found two triangular posts located along the highway. I have no idea what their significance is. One is located on U.S. Highway 285 about 13 miles south of Artesia, NM. The other is located on U.S. Highway 70 on the outskirts of Kenna, NM. There might be others out there, but they have yet to catch my eye. Anyway, the posts are roughly 4 feet high and are constructed of concrete. The longest side of the triangle is about one foot, maybe a little more. I took some pictures: Thanks! Quote Link to comment
ArtMan Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Right-of-way marker comes to mind. We have lots of them in Virginia (though they look different). How far off the highway are they? Because of the two beveled facets that appear to face the directions of travel, might they be mileposts? They don't look old enough, and the photos don't show any signs of having been previously painted, but in decades past you might see concrete posts vaguely like this that would have the distance to the next town/city painted on them. How far apart are the two posts from each other? Just a couple of random thoughts from someone who obviously is guessing, -ArtMan- Quote Link to comment
+themonkey Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 They are quite a ways apart. I don't think they're related to each other. I mean, I think they both mark something, but I don't think it's like a Point A/Point B relationship. They're on different highways, different directions of travel, too. How would I determine if they're Right of Way markers? Would they be on a property line? Also, should I be looking for remnants of a second marker directly across the highway? I thought these would be a neat place to put a geocache. But I wanted to put a description of what they are and their significance with the cache. Right-of-way marker comes to mind. We have lots of them in Virginia (though they look different). How far off the highway are they? Because of the two beveled facets that appear to face the directions of travel, might they be mileposts? They don't look old enough, and the photos don't show any signs of having been previously painted, but in decades past you might see concrete posts vaguely like this that would have the distance to the next town/city painted on them. How far apart are the two posts from each other? Just a couple of random thoughts from someone who obviously is guessing, -ArtMan- Quote Link to comment
Z15 Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 (edited) They are Highway Construction Project Markers. They were place (prior to the 1970's) at the beginning of all federal aide highway projects. There would have been letters stenciled on there in reference to the project number and control section. Sometimes they place bronze plaques on them also. Notice how one side had a recessed area, when facing that side the project would be ahead of you and the stencil would be on the recess area (black paint). That's where that specific project began. They never placed anything and the end as the end was always the beginning of another project. They have not placed these in many years. Anytime federal money was used in the project, these were required to be placed by the contractor at the direction of the Project Engineer (highway dept) so the public could see their tax dollars at work. Btw-They are not set at any required offset, just at the beginning of the project and within the Right of Way. Edited March 30, 2009 by Z15 Quote Link to comment
2oldfarts (the rockhounders) Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 They are Highway Construction Project Markers. They used to place these at the beginning of highway projects. There would have been letters stenciled on there in reference to the project number and control section. Sometimes they place bronze plaques on them also. Notice how one side had a recessed area, when facing that side the project would be ahead of you and the stencil would be on the recess area (black paint). That's where that specific project began. They never placed anything and the end as the end was always the beginning of another project. They have not place these in many years. Anytime federal money was used in the project, these were required to be placed by the contractor at the direction of the Project Engineer (highway dept) so the public could see their tax dollars at work. Now that is interesting! We had found a line of benchmarks in Nevada (Clark County) that had smaller triangular concrete posts at each one. Here is a picture of one of them. It still has the silver paint on it from 1934. PID #GR0069 Quote Link to comment
+t8r Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Well, I'll be dipped! Thanks Mike. I just assumed those were Rof W markers from some bygone age. That really makes sense because the one near my house would have been at the entrance of a major federal project, in the 60s. Quote Link to comment
ArtMan Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Very interesting. I don't believe I've seen anything like this in the northeast/mid Atlantic region. However, I have often seen projects with a big sign saying "YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK," with the amount from federal, state, and local sources, etc. -ArtMan- Quote Link to comment
+TheBeanTeam Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 However, I have often seen projects with a big sign saying "YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK," with the amount from federal, state, and local sources, etc. -ArtMan- ...and a crew of guys in hardhats standing around with shovels and coffee. Quote Link to comment
Z15 Posted March 31, 2009 Share Posted March 31, 2009 Hey, they always preached to us to "Take time to be safe". Quote Link to comment
+themonkey Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Okay, so these are possibly project markers? I have no idea where to find information about that. Maybe my state highway department? Quote Link to comment
+themonkey Posted March 31, 2009 Author Share Posted March 31, 2009 Okay, so these are possibly project markers? I have no idea where to find information about that. Maybe my state highway department? Quote Link to comment
Z15 Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 (edited) I am 99.9% sure they are project markers. They were 'eye food' for the public that started back in the 50's when the big push was on to build roads. Someone at the FHA determined they needed to place something to commemorate the road project. There is one about 10 miles from my house on a secondary county road with access to Lake Superior and a harbor of refuge. You would find them on the original plans, likely when the road was first built into a paved road. So you would have to go to the local DOT or whatever agency handles that road and research the plans but there is no data on them like elevations or coordinates. Edited April 1, 2009 by Z15 Quote Link to comment
+themonkey Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 I just want to thank everyone for pointing me in the right direction. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out when these markers were placed. Quote Link to comment
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