What does "MONUMENTED" mean?

[tgspidell]

Looked for a benchmark marked as MONUMENTED - http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.asp?PID=OM0441

 

This one was by a railroad which no longer exists - looks like it's in the process of being turned in to a bike path.

 

The official history lists

1934 by CGS (MONUMENTED)

 

Does this mean that it was MONUMENTED in 1934 (whatever that means), or that it was last verified in 1934 by CGS, and has been monumented sometime since then?

 

I'm wondering if there's no chance of finding MONUMENTED benchmarks.

 

Thanks,

 

tgspidell

[Couch_Potato]

I believe that when the markers are initially placed they are recorded as being monumented. It seems to be official type jargon for placing the marker.

 

I'm not lost!

I just don't know where I am.

[survey tech]

Couch Potato is correct. In fact, surveyors refer to all types of markers as monuments. It originally meant a pile of stones similar to a cairn, but now carries no special significance.

[+makaio]

The "monument" is the setting in which the benchmark disk is placed. Many you'll find are set in a concrete base which rises at least a few inches above the ground surface. This base is the monument.

 

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[+Forest Engineer & Sunny Daze]

Technically all items set to mark a position comprise the monument, even bearing trees and other reference marks. So, a brass disk installed on a concrete base is part of the monument. If a year is given in the description of a benchmark (or other monumented position), that is the year it was set. Monumentation records (on the Internet and elsewhere) usually indicate dates that the monument was verified as being existent or its position redetermined. Monuments are often destroyed by road construction, logging and other activities of man. Generally, people who plan construction which might threaten a monument are required by law to notify the government agency having jurisdiction (federal, state, county or city, or national forest, etc.--one should have this information when planning a project). If the monument is to be obliterated , it is required that it be referenced by two or three marks "in the clear" so that it can be re-set if feasible to reset in the same position, or a reference monument set if not feasible (such as in a reservoir or under a structure).

 

Forest Engineer (licensed professional land surveyor, retired, Oregon and Washington)

 

Kaneloa[8D]("Tall Man")

[+Forest Engineer & Sunny Daze]

Technically all items set to mark a position comprise the monument, even bearing trees and other reference marks. So, a brass disk installed on a concrete base is part of the monument. If a year is given in the description of a benchmark (or other monumented position), that is the year it was set. Monumentation records (on the Internet and elsewhere) usually indicate dates that the monument was verified as being existent or its position redetermined. Monuments are often destroyed by road construction, logging and other activities of man. Generally, people who plan construction which might threaten a monument are required by law to notify the government agency having jurisdiction (federal, state, county or city, or national forest, etc.--one should have this information when planning a project). If the monument is to be obliterated , it is required that it be referenced by two or three marks "in the clear" so that it can be re-set if feasible to reset in the same position, or a reference monument set if not feasible (such as in a reservoir or under a structure).

 

Forest Engineer (licensed professional land surveyor, retired, Oregon and Washington)

 

Kaneloa[8D]("Tall Man")

[+Forest Engineer & Sunny Daze]

The rails of an old railroad are often construed as monumenting the centerline of that railroad. Property is often deeded to the railroad right-of-way line. If the R/W is 100 feet wide that line could be 50 feet at right angles or radially from the line midway between the existing rails. These rails undoubtedly would not be in their original position, but they could constitute the best evidence of the railroad centerline position in an otherwise unmonumented centerline.

 

FE, PLS ret.

 

Kaneloa[8D]("Tall Man")

[+Forest Engineer & Sunny Daze]

The rails of an old railroad are often construed as monumenting the centerline of that railroad. Property is often deeded to the railroad right-of-way line. If the R/W is 100 feet wide that line could be 50 feet at right angles or radially from the line midway between the existing rails. These rails undoubtedly would not be in their original position, but they could constitute the best evidence of the railroad centerline position in an otherwise unmonumented centerline.

 

FE, PLS ret.

 

Kaneloa[8D]("Tall Man")