+Dawgies Posted October 2, 2002 Share Posted October 2, 2002 We had a blast today! Set out on 5 benchmarks that hadn't beed recovered in years and actually recovered 3 of them! Our favorite one was... DN0059 was monumented in 1934, (recovered) in good condition in 1959 and then (not found) in 1994. We checked the coordinates and then merged them with the description information and came up with a good idea where the disk should be. A check of the area came up with nadda, then I happened to notice the base of a nearby tree. The benchmark concrete base has been partially swallowed by the tree and the bark has reached the disk itself. Within a couple of years it'll completely envelope it. Question: Would it be acceptable to cut the tree down before loosing the BM? It is n RR property, I'll contact them about it. The other recovered benchmarks were DN0055 and DN1075. The other two? I'll be back..... A GREAT day indeed! ~Honest Value Never Fails~ Quote Link to comment
Cholo Posted October 2, 2002 Share Posted October 2, 2002 Originally posted by Dawgies: . Question: Would it be acceptable to cut the tree down before loosing the BM? It is n RR property, I'll contact them about it. Ask that beagle in your avatar if he'd rather have the tree, or the disk. Quote Link to comment
+OzzieSan Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 If the tree has caused any movment of the disk then it is probably unusable without a reset. Quote Link to comment
Couch_Potato Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 quote:Originally posted by Team 5-oh!:If the tree has caused any movment of the disk then it is probably unusable without a reset. Now if we could only figure out where the reset button is on those things. Seriously, if it is already partially enveloped by the tree it may already be too late to salvage it. Most likely it has changed position and is unusable as a survey point. Not sure if that is considered destroyed, but it should be reported to the NGS. From the NGS recovery form "...please send the report on the destroyed mark as an email to Deb Brown (Deb.Brown@noaa.gov)." I'd send a description to Deb Brown and see what the official response to the situation is. I'm not lost! I just don't know where I am. Quote Link to comment
+Dawgies Posted October 3, 2002 Author Share Posted October 3, 2002 Whatcha think? Would you consider it destroyed or salvagable? ~Honest Value Never Fails~ Quote Link to comment
survey tech Posted October 3, 2002 Share Posted October 3, 2002 Positively not destroyed. If you were a surveyor looking for a point to check your work against would you rather find a point that may be off slightly or find nothing at all? True, it may not be precise enough to use as a point of beginning, but it definitely could still be used for checking purposes. Quote Link to comment
+makaio Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 What this mark could use, though, is a witness post. No doubt in years to come the mark will continue to succumb to the growth of the tree. A nearby witness post would help surveyors, et al, to locate the mark until it is completely gone. Whether or not NOAA or a local agency would provide one is questionable, but you might be able to create one yourself using existing signs as templates and place it beside the tree. Something like this (made with SignMaker) although you'd wnt to keep it close to the standard monument sign size and shape. [This message was edited by makaio on October 04, 2002 at 12:12 PM.] Quote Link to comment
ikayak Posted October 4, 2002 Share Posted October 4, 2002 We are just starting to benchmark in our area. Our son has learned alot of local history just in the past couple of days!! He's comparing the last locations known to what is current today and finding out alot has changed in the past 60 years around here. Time Flies like an arrow. Fruit Flies like a banana Quote Link to comment
boundsgoer Posted October 6, 2002 Share Posted October 6, 2002 I think filing a Mark Recovery Entry with NGS would be a better way to help guide people searching a mark. There is a place to enter a concise description of how to reach the mark. A person would take on too much liability setting signs on private property. If one were able to obtain such permission, fine, but just try getting permission from the Railroad! Signs also have a way of disappearing, too. A Mark Recovery Entry would be more permanent. I asked Deb Brown at NGS about getting some of thier Carsonite Marker posts to set at marks I have found. She responded that it would be too much liability to have private surveyors do that. Quote Link to comment
+Geojiggs Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 I am too just starting to gear up to find some of these benchmarks. I am very active in the caches but this seems more fun to me and the wife. Look forward to finding many!! Quote Link to comment
+juanbob Posted October 9, 2002 Share Posted October 9, 2002 Jiggs: Benchmarking will be the most fun and frustration you have ever had. It is sometimes more fun to search for something that may not be there - othertimes you rush to a cache, just so you can find something! I just got off a 10 benchmark found day, a nice change from several 1 for 15 days. Juanbob Quote Link to comment
boundsgoer Posted October 11, 2002 Share Posted October 11, 2002 Here is one I recovered the other day while surveying. PID JJ060. I went to the next one 2 miles down the line, as this one was reported as "not found" by the USGS back in 1974. I had to set a property corner near this one and thought I would poke around. As I was setting the corner, I turned around and saw the edges of square concrete sticking out of the dirt. Brushed away the dirt and there it was! I think the USGS crew may have not looked too hard for this one, as the original directions to it appear to be for another marker, since the features referred to cannot be for this particular spot. Such as the crossroads. Here is the note I included in my Mark Recovery to NGS: NEW TO REACH IS AS FOLLOWS: 16.0 MILES EAST FROM THE POST OFFICE IN YODER, EL PASO COUNTY. MARK IS 59.6 FEET NORTH OF THE CENTERLINE OF STATE HIGHWAY No. 94, 2 FEET WEST OF A FENCE NORTH AND 9.6 FEET NORTH OF THE NORTH RIGHT OF WAY FENCE. Good to find this one, as it is in a very rural area and control (vertical and horizontal) is hard to come by. Quote Link to comment
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