What does a bridge abutment look like?

[glorkar]

I'm pretty familiar with what a bridge abutment looks like on the newer highway bridges, but the mark I'm looking for is on the abutment of an old stone bridge. I've looked all over and even used a metal detector (which is newish to me so I'm not the best at using it yet!) I took some photos of the location to see if any of you seasoned vets could point me in the right direction:

 

 

 

 

 

The station I'm looking for is: OM0547. I've been in touch with the previous finder and he seems like he remembers the site pretty well. He didn't have a chance to take any pictures, but he remembers that he didn't have to dig (only scrape a little with an improvised tool -- an old license plate!)

Edited July 19, 2010 by glorkar

[Bill93]

Where is 20.8 ft from the center line? Since a traffic lane is typically around 12 ft and the bridge is a little wider than that, I guess there is still maybe 4 ft beyond the upright concrete barrier. That might point to a continuation of the abutment wall down under that brush at the edge of the creek, where sometimes the location would be described as a wingwall if it swept back at less than a right angle. Just don't fall in while the water is high.

 

I can't figure out what 1.5 FT. NORTH OF U.P. NO. 68 is, and this might be a very important clue.

 

Just for idle curiosity, did you notice the chiseled cross on the corner of the concrete in the last photo? Somebody used that as a reference point for something, maybe not in any way connected to the benchmark.

[glorkar]

Yup, I noticed the cross. Kind of made me curious, but nobody to ask about it

 

20.8 feet from the center puts it at about the point of the scuff mark in the grass on the third photo.

 

As for the "1.5 FT. NORTH OF U.P. NO.68," if I remember correctly, that is a power pole designation. Alas, there are no power poles remaining in the area any more (the highway was moved East and now this is part of the driveway to a golf course.)

Edited July 19, 2010 by glorkar

[Difficult Run]

Here's my two cents:

 

U.P. = Utility Pole

Abutment

 

The previous finder, NorthWes is a regular in this forum. Hopefully he will pop up and join the conversation.

 

~ Mitch ~

[glorkar]

Utility Pole...now that makes sense! I knew it stood for something

 

I just shot NorthWes a message. We've been chatting back and forth. I'm sure he'll drop in (these will be the first pictures of the area he's seen!)

 

And thanks for that illustration of an abutment. That actually does clear a few things up for me....still don't see where it would be in the pictures though

 

Note --Just added a fourth picture. It shows the opposite side of the bridge, but a pretty good shot of what it looks like underneath. Is it possible that it's actually submerged right now? We have had some pretty good rains here recently that raised a lot of the waterways.

Edited July 19, 2010 by glorkar

[+Holtie22]

Are you sure you are looking around the right bridge? When was the highway relocated? Before or after 1974? Could the pole in this photo be U.P. 68?

 

[glorkar]

I looked on the new bridge first. That would have been pretty obvious. When I talked with NorthWes and he vividly remembers it being near the old bridge.

[+NorthWes]

Yup - it was the old bridge - and the realignment's more obvious when you stand on the old bridge. It was just last year. My dad & I were in town for the EAA Airventure Show (airshows aren't fun on rainy days, so we'd gone benchmarking/geocaching). Like a knucklehead the only thing I left in the rental car was the camera, thanks to the intensity of the rain at that moment. I had my GPS and the license plate I was using as a scraper tool - and what I remember vividly is driving off in the pouring rain but leaving my GPS on the bridge corner post... which was duly noticed about two minutes after leaving the area. GPS was still there on return. My dad remembers worrying I'd fallen into the stream, as I went down out of sight behind the bridge pillar post in my search - for several minutes' time. I made written notes on the recovery in my logbook when I got back to the car as "Found - stamp matches"... and have no photo to show for it - the only absent disk photo of the day. This clearly illustrates (no pun intended) why a good closeup photo is a must - especially when you've gone and reported it to the NGS as a recovery. My normal routine was disrupted, and now I'm hoping glorkar (Jeremy) can come up with a photo to validate my recovery report, logbook & memories of the spot.

[+agentmancuso]

Here's my two cents:

 

Abutment

 

~ Mitch ~

 

Thanks for that, I'd often wondered.

[Difficult Run]

Thanks for that, I'd often wondered.

Heck, don't thank me. Holograph deserves the credit.

~ Mitch ~