Benchmarks on the mind

[+Harry Dolphin]

Discussion of the closing of the Washington Monument after the earthquake. Photo shows one of the cracks.

 

 

And I said: Looks like two benchmarks!

[+redhead3434]

I think those are lights, but they do look like benchmarks.

[foxtrot_xray]

Yeah, those are lights. 8 total, two on each side.

 

However, it is *A* benchmark, an intersection station.

[ArtMan]

They are navigation warning lights, designed to prevent aviators from slamming into a large masonry obstacle. Above them, at the top of the monument, is the capstone, which is not made of stone, but in fact is aluminum, possibly the most exotic and expensive material available when it was set in 1884.

 

An authoritative description of the process appeared in 1995 in JOM, the journal of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

 

Somewhere in these forums is perhaps the coolest photo ever of a benchmark: Dave Doyle atop Washington Monument 1913 (HV4442), a rare example of an intersection station being occupied. (Actually, it happened twice - in 1934 and again in 1999).

 

~ArtMan~

[AZcachemeister]

All I can say is I hope that thing doesn't fall down while I'm alive.

But, you know it will...someday.

[TillaMurphs]

Somewhere in these forums is perhaps the coolest photo ever of a benchmark: Dave Doyle atop Washington Monument 1913 (HV4442), a rare example of an intersection station being occupied. (Actually, it happened twice - in 1934 and again in 1999).

 

~ArtMan~

 

Here is the picture. Indeed one of the coolest benchmark photos ever: Dave Doyle

[foxtrot_xray]

The crazy thing is, with that crack and the little earth movement from the earthquake, could have just made Dave's work in '99 now void. Think it moved more and a few cm?