jbuffethed Posted October 14, 2010 Posted October 14, 2010 (edited) I had some spare time today on base here. Maxwell AFB, AL 4 Scaled benchmarks. I was looking at the following benchmark: CN0617 I found the two hangers listed in the description and found a fire plug. The plug had a triangle on it like a disc would, but instead of having the drill hole, it looked to have another smaller triangle inside it. I also did not see any numbers or anything. I had never seen one before and wanted to confirm before I marked as found. I attached a picture that will hopefully help. Thanks Edited October 14, 2010 by jbuffethed Quote
ArtMan Posted October 14, 2010 Posted October 14, 2010 I'd be surprised if this is it. First, from the photo, at least, this does not look 65 years old. Also, I think "fire plug" refers to a conventional, free-standing hydrant. Unfortunately, the description of the mark didn't make the conversion into the electronic data sheet, but the fact that this is vertical control (elevation), strongly suggests to me that it would not be marked by a triangle. Triangles normally are used for triangulation (get it?) stations or other horizontal control — latitude and longitude. Note that the described location is "FIRE PLUG NO. 5 (8-11)." Is this piece of hardware marked with a number? That might be helpful, too. Hope this is of some help. Nice to have participation of someone with access to a facility that most of us can't get to. -ArtMan- Quote
TillaMurphs Posted October 15, 2010 Posted October 15, 2010 This is a great site for researching all things fire pluggy. firehydrant.org You might be able to look up the apparatus in your photo and find out what year it was made. If its date of manufacture is after the monumentation, then you could confirm you have the wrong thing. Cool photo. Quote
AZcachemeister Posted October 15, 2010 Posted October 15, 2010 In all the context's I'm aware of, a fire plug (or hydrant) is a ground-mounted valve that taps into the local (city or otherwise) water supply system, and is where a fire truck would get water to squirt on a fire. The device pictured looks like a connection supplied for the fire truck to hook up to, to pump water INTO a building through a piping system to drench the interior. From the description it sounds like the top of a fire plug was measured to, and no mark (other than what pre-existed) was made on the plug/hydrant. Seems like a rather inaccurate way to make a geodetic mark, since every hydrant I have seen has a valve stem as the top (which would have moved if the hydrant/plug was ever used). Quote
jbuffethed Posted October 15, 2010 Author Posted October 15, 2010 Thank you for all of the input. Even though I work on base, I didnt want to stand out too much walking up and down in between two old hangers that are occupied. I will definitely go back and see if I missed anything. Quote
+Harry Dolphin Posted October 15, 2010 Posted October 15, 2010 My one find on a fire hydrant: The letter "O" in the word open. KV3523 Quote
Bill93 Posted October 15, 2010 Posted October 15, 2010 Hydrants are considered poor long term bench marks because they are not as stable as many objects that are used. Their piping tends to move them around a little over time. It is very risky to not have good identification of the hydrant. I've read a horror story where one was used as THE (only=mistake 1) design reference point for construction grading, the description was brief, and the contractor did not realize that the hydrant had been replaced in the mean time with a different and stubbier model. As they were trying to hook up the drainage for a multi-acre shopping center they figured out that they were a foot and a half too low and had to do some serious redesign to get rid of the water. Quote
TillaMurphs Posted October 16, 2010 Posted October 16, 2010 I did a little research. The thing in your photo is called a "Fire Department Connection" and it was made by W.D. Allen of Chicago. The company has been in business since 1869 and is still in business today. Quote
+elvis3068 Posted October 18, 2010 Posted October 18, 2010 Just a side bar to all this: A "fire plug" in its original meaning could not have ever been a benchmark. The term goes WAY back in time into the 19th century when water supplies set up for city fire departments were wooden piping that ran just under the surface. When the horses got the apparatus to the scene, the firemen would then "plug" into the wood with a cylindrical metal end hammered in place, that would give them water under pressure to work. There were no fire hydrants as we know them today since the piping was all under ground. Quote
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