Bench Marks

[+DanOCan]

The benchmark database does not have any Canadian information.

If you want to find benchmarks in Canada, you have to come to Alberta and take advantage of this grandfathered Virtual cache.

[+Binrat]

There are American Benchmarks in Canada. Look along the borders because they need to triangulate so they use references on our side.

 

Here is one example http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=PH2217

 

Binrat

[+GeoTrailGuy]

Has anyone poked around the Canadian Spatial Reference System online database? It appears to contain the Canadian survey data. Registration is required but access is provided immediately.

 

http://www.geod.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php

 

Am I missing something or are Canadians just simply not as jazzed up about benchmark searches as the Americans are?

[+DyverDown]

There is / was a whole discussion on this topic - do a search here on it....

 

Has anyone poked around the Canadian Spatial Reference System online database? It appears to contain the Canadian survey data. Registration is required but access is provided immediately.

 

http://www.geod.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php

 

Am I missing something or are Canadians just simply not as jazzed up about benchmark searches as the Americans are?

[+GeoTrailGuy]

There is / was a whole discussion on this topic - do a search here on it....

 

 

I'm not proud of it but I'll admit that I did just that last night (after my orig post) and found some good info. Thanks.

[+GeoTrailGuy]

There is / was a whole discussion on this topic - do a search here on it....

 

 

I'm not proud of it but I'll admit that I did just that last night (after my orig post) and found some good info. Thanks.

[+stagunner]

numbers are numbers,, I grabbed a few Benchmark while in the US a while ago.

The word I heard on Benchmarks and Groundspeak it that the Cdn Govt offers this information for free and is not going to let Groundspeak charge user to access the data,,

 

No biggy as far as I am concerned, you can always grab a Benchmark Waymark if it is listed there and get your numbers up on those..

I have a few waymarked, I always thought that it is a good way to assist surveyors by letting them know the monuments are still OK,,

I was a surveyor in the army and hated it when a survey marker was gone missing,,

[+Denis et Doris]

Using the Canadian Geodetic survey site I managed to figure out that you have to figure out which map they're on -ie- we live in a map region numbered 42-g-12 . Topographic paper maps are defined this way. Then using that map number I downloaded the benchmark data for this region, and found several BM's that way. Basically it's a text file, that lists all the information for each benchmark. Some are only Vertical Control Markers - used for height above sea level. The ones you're looking for are Brass/Bronze Cap for a traditional BM, or I've found a Self-Centering Disc, an electronic device that sends info directly to the Government through a data link. This one is a Trimble unit, mounted on a cement pillar on bedrock. There are 3 triangulation BM's nearby.

 

So the information IS THERE. It's just a time-consuming and labourious process in finding the data that YOU need.

 

Denis.

 

e-mail me if you want to chat more about it.

[+The Marathon Man]

Of course, up in Canada if you want to find a benchmark while driving along the highways, especially in Northern Ontario, all you have to look for is the orange tube marker on a short metal post very near the benchmark location. I see them all the time along the highway.

[+GeoTrailGuy]

So the information IS THERE. It's just a time-consuming and labourious process in finding the data that YOU need.

 

denisetdoris, have you found any "easy" ways to convert and import the Natural Resources Canada dataset? The formats they provide aren't easy to work with as you indicate. The geobase.ca site provides a subset of the same data in a slightly easier to work with format but many of the locations aren't included.

[+tec_64]

Like pinzin sez:

 

http://www.geod.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php

 

Then go play at geocaching.com's sister site ...... www.Waymarking.com

 

Wayne

tec_64

Sudbury, Ontario

[+Denis et Doris]

Just to make sure, I checked, and no, I didn't say it was easy !

 

It is tedious, as all government websites are, and don't work worth a crap. But the site did help me somewhat. It's the only place I know of to get bm info direct from the source, the government.

 

Denis ;-)